China denies UK claims of supplying lethal weapons to Russia

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin denied that China has supplied lethal weapons to Russia on May 23, pushing back on claims made by U.K. Foreign Secretary Grant Shapps the previous day.

Speaking at the London Defense Conference, Shapps said on May 22 that he was declassifying new intelligence to reveal the "quite significant" development that the U.K. and U.S. had reports that "lethal aid is now, or will be, flowing from China to Russia and into Ukraine."

U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan subsequently distanced himself from Shapps' assertion, saying that the U.S. had seen no evidence of it either in the past or "to date."

"We condemn the U.K. politician's groundless and irresponsible vilification of China," Wenbin said.

"We noted the fact those remarks from the U.K. side were not even seconded by its
"close ally," he added, referring to Sullivan's remarks.

"It (was) reported that two years ago when Russia and Ukraine were close to an agreement to end the conflict, it was the U.K., among others, that jumped in the way to stop it and the conflict has continued since," Wenbin said.

The spokesperson was likely referring to a theory, unsupported by contemporaneous accounts of the talks, that former U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson sabotaged the negotiations.

Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba released a video earlier in May refuting that narrative, saying that is "one of the favorite lies promoted by Russia."

China officially declares itself a neutral party to Russia's full-scale war in Ukraine and has denied providing lethal aid, but Beijing and Moscow continue to develop closer ties, most recently with Russian President Vladimir Putin visiting his counterpart Xi Jinping earlier in May.

U.S. officials have previously warned China against providing Russia with lethal military aid and urged Beijing to use its influence over Moscow to help end the war.

Although Sullivan declined to confirm Shapps' assertion, he did say that China is clearly providing weapons components to Russia, which the U.S. has "taken action to deal with."

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