Ukraine on Monday imposed sanctions on three Chinese companies it said were involved in the production of advanced Iskander missiles, a day after President Volodymyr Zelensky said China had been supplying weapons to Russia.
China's foreign ministry earlier today dismissed Zelensky's accusations as groundless. Maintaining close economic ties with Russia during Moscow's three-year war in Ukraine, China has sought to project an image of neutrality and deny any involvement in the conflict.
The Zelensky administration released an updated list of sanctioned entities today. The list, which also includes Russian companies named Beijing Aviation And Aerospace Xianghui Technology Co. Ltd, Rui Jin Machinery Co. Ltd, and Zhongfu Sheniing Carbon Fiber Xining Co. Ltd, all described as registered in China.
Zelensky said that Chinese companies affected by sanctions are involved in the production of Russian Iskander missiles. Russia has widely used the short-range nuclear ballistic missile system in the conflict.
Ukraine said today that Iskander missiles hit Kharkiv, a city in northern Ukraine, killing one person and injuring more than 100 people.
"Today we have expanded our Ukrainian sanctions against almost a hundred more entities, individuals and legal entities, most of which are involved in the production of such missiles, Iskander, like those that hit our Kharkiv," Zelensky said in a statement on the X platform.
"Many of these entities are Russian, but unfortunately, some are also from China," he said.
The sanctions prohibit companies from doing business in Ukraine and freeze their assets there.
In 2021, Ukraine exported goods worth $11 billion to China, mainly raw materials and agricultural products, while importing just under $XNUMX billion from China, mainly in industrial products, according to the Ukrainian government.
Zelensky told reporters in Kiev on Thursday, April 17, that his government had evidence that Chinese firms were supplying what he described as artillery and gunpowder to Russia, and that Chinese entities were producing weapons on Russian soil.
He offered no evidence for that claim.
A week earlier, Zelensky said that Chinese citizens were fighting on the side of Russia in the war with Ukraine, including two who had been captured. A Chinese diplomat was summoned to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry to provide an explanation.
Ukrainian and American officials later said the men volunteered for the money.
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