Ukraine intel chief sees no signs China plans to arm Russia

This photograph taken on Feb. 27, 2023, shows an empty street as the sounds of shelling continue in Bakhmut, amid Russia’s military invasion on Ukraine. (AFP)

• Senior US officials have said as recently as Sunday that they were "confident" China was considering the supply of lethal equipment to Moscow
• Ukrainian military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov said: "I do not share this opinion"

KYIV: Ukraine’s head of military intelligence has brushed aside claims that China is considering furnishing arms to Russia, telling US media that he saw no “signs that such things are even being discussed.”
Senior US officials have said as recently as Sunday that they were “confident” China was considering the supply of lethal equipment to Moscow, with a diplomatic pressure campaign underway to discourage it from doing so.
But when asked about the possibility in a lengthy interview with Voice of America published on Monday, Ukrainian military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov said: “I do not share this opinion.”
“As of now, I do not think that China will agree to the transfer of weapons to Russia,” he said. “I do not see any signs that such things are even being discussed.”
Earlier this month, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken aired Washington’s concerns about potential arms shipments in a tense meeting with his Chinese counterpart, and the director of the CIA said in an interview on Sunday that he believed Beijing was still weighing the possibility.
During a visit to Kazakhstan, Blinken again said that China should know the “implications and consequences” of assisting Russia on the military front.
“China can’t have it both ways when it comes to the Russian aggression in Ukraine,” Blinken told reporters.
“It can’t be putting forward peace proposals on the one hand while actually feeding the flames of the fire that Russia has started,” he said, referring to a recent proposal by Beijing for negotiations.
Blinken said the United States told China that it would impose sanctions on companies or people who support the Russian war effort.
Media reports have cited unidentified US officials as saying China was deciding whether to provide drones and certain munitions to Russia.
Asked specifically about the US assessment, Budanov said: “I am the head of intelligence and I rely, with all due respect, not on the opinions of individual people, but only on facts. I do not see such facts.”
As to where Russia could still procure arms, Budanov said that apart from unconfirmed reports of shipments from North Korea, “almost the only country that actually transfers more or less serious weapons is Iran.”