Zelenskyy: China supplies Russia with artillery, gunpowder and helps manufacture weapons

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stated, citing intelligence, that China is supplying Russia with artillery and gunpowder and is involved in manufacturing certain types of weapons on Russian territory.

Source: Zelenskyy speaking to journalists during a briefing on 17 April, as reported by Interfax-Ukraine

Quote: "We have finally received information that China is supplying weapons to the Russian Federation. Today we have general information from the Security Service and intelligence agencies about gunpowder, artillery. I believe we’ll be able to present this in more detail next week… We believe that representatives of China are involved in manufacturing some weapons on Russian territory."

Details: The president recalled that during a previous conversation with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, the latter had pledged not to sell or send weapons to Russia.

"But unfortunately, we are now seeing different information. We already have evidence of this cooperation between China and Russia to boost their defence capabilities and this is bad news," Zelenskyy stressed.

He added that Ukraine sees clear evidence of cooperation between the two countries in this area and the relevant documents will be submitted next week.

Background:

• On 8 April, Zelenskyy reported that Ukrainian troops in Donetsk Oblast had captured two Chinese citizens fighting as part of the Russian forces. The president instructed the foreign minister to contact Beijing immediately to find out how China intends to respond.
• On 11 April, Zelenskyy stated that "at least several hundred Chinese citizens are fighting within Russian occupation forces" and said this means Russia is trying to prolong the war even at the cost of Chinese lives.

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