Russian Ambassador to the UK Andrey Kelin dismissed allegations that Beijing was providing military assistance to Moscow. He stated this on March 3 in an interview with the TV channel Al Jazeera.
“China officially declares that it does not provide us with military support. As far as I know it doesn’t happen <…> and there is no evidence that we are receiving weapons from China,” the diplomat said.
According to him, Russia has a developed military-industrial complex and does not need the supply of weapons from other countries. Kelin noted that against this background, the idea of Kyiv’s victory in the Ukrainian conflict is “just an illusion.”
Earlier, on February 28, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that China would face serious problems not only in relations with the United States, but also with other countries if Beijing supported Moscow in the conflict in Ukraine. He expressed hope that China would take these warnings seriously.
On February 18, Blinken also noted that the United States was concerned about possible assistance from China to Russia in the conduct of hostilities in Ukraine.
In turn, Wang Yi, head of the office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC Central Committee), said on February 19 that China would never accept US pressure and threats against Russian-Chinese relations.
In addition, on February 22, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin stressed that information about China’s arms supplies to Russia is NATO’s speculation.
