China delivering military equipment to Russia, France says
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France alleges that China is delivering defense equipment to Russia, though it did not specify what exactly it was sending.
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Ukrainian soldiers fire a cannon near Bakhmut, Donetsk People's Republic, May 15, 2023 (AP)
China is delivering military equipment to Russia, which it could use in the Ukraine war, French President Emmanuel Macron's diplomatic advisor said Thursday.
"There are indications that they are doing things we would prefer them not to do," Emmanuel Bonne told the public during an address at the Aspen Security Forum.
Asked about the actions in question, Bonne said Beijing was delivering a "kind of military equipment."
"As far as we know, they are not delivering massively military capacities to Russia," he added, noting that the advisor said it was possible that there were "deliveries of dual-use [civilian and military] technologies."
As it pumps Ukraine's arsenal full of weapons that are to be destroyed on the front against Russia, the West has been calling on China not to help Moscow and deliver arms to its ally to the north.
The West has no evidence of any "wrongdoing" on China's end. However, they are concerned about the possibility of Chinese firms delivering technology to Russia that could be used against Kiev.
China has since the outbreak of the war been calling for the respect of both Ukraine's and Russia's sovereignty, but that did not stop the Western allegations about its provision of armament to Moscow.
"At the point where we are, when the counteroffensive is beginning in the field, when everything is complicated... what we need most is Chinese abstention" from arms deliveries, Bonne said.
He also called on China to "demonstrate that it is a credible partner" in the Ukraine war, stressing that he doesn't "have the evidence yet."
As more allegations come from the West about Russia's procurement of arms from China without the former providing any evidence to the affair, there are tons of weapons making it into Kiev from its allies.
Early June saw the beginning of Ukraine's much-anticipated counteroffensive, which had been delayed for months due to an alleged shortage of military supplies from Western sponsors. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, despite their efforts, Ukrainian soldiers were unable to advance. While Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confessed that development was "slower than desired," a number of Western media outlets also noted the counteroffensive's lackluster outcomes.
According to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, since the start of Ukraine's counteroffensive, Russia has destroyed 21 Ukrainian aircraft, five helicopters, 1,244 tanks including other armored vehicles, 17 Leopard tanks, and five French AMX wheeled tanks, 914 special vehicle units, two air defense systems, and 25 MLRS vehicles, which amounts to evidence that Ukraine has been getting armed from the West, not to mention the statements regarding the ordeal and the public handovers.
Putin revealed that since June 4, 311 Ukrainian weapons, systems, and vehicles have been destroyed, adding that at least one-third of these weapons come from Western arsenals.
Moreover, one of the latest weapons to have been supplied to Ukraine was cluster bombs. The US announced earlier this month that it would provide Kiev with cluster munitions to "assist" Ukrainian forces on the battlefield as the counteroffensive failed so far to reach expectations.
Washington's decision has been widely criticized by human rights activists, some US lawmakers, and even former top officials in the United States Army, Pentagon, and NATO.
Ukraine began using cluster bombs in its targeting of Russian forces at the front lines "in the last week or so," US National Security Council Spokesperson John Kirby said in a briefing on Thursday.
"They're using them appropriately, they're using them effectively and they are actually having an impact on Russia’s defensive formations and Russia’s defensive maneuvering," Kirby claimed.
Cluster munitions, which disperse up to hundreds of small explosive charges, are banned by over 100 countries, including European signatories to the 2008 Oslo Convention and NATO members that are fully engaged in the conflict.
