President Volodymyr Zelensky believes China has considerable influence it could use to help end Russia’s war, but is not doing so. In an interview with Japanese broadcaster NHK, he said Beijing’s position was closer to Moscow’s than to neutrality.
Zelensky said he had personally seen a North Korean-made missile in Ukraine. While he had not seen any Chinese missiles, he said he knew that Chinese technology and equipment were reaching Russia. The president suggested that specialists might also be arriving alongside those supplies.
In his view, sanctions and restrictions on the energy and banking sectors make China’s influence over Moscow increasingly significant. However, Zelensky said he had seen no signs of Beijing pressuring Russia to end the war. He acknowledged that the issue might be raised at bilateral meetings but stressed that he had no information to confirm this.
“Of course, China can find a way to push Putin toward negotiations. I am certain of that. But they have not done so. And if you can act but choose not to, does that amount to support or not?” the president said.
Zelensky stressed that the issue was primarily one of political will rather than arms supplies. He expressed regret that China was not supporting Ukraine politically, despite being, in his view, among the countries capable of bringing about a swift end to the war.
“The problem is that they are not in the middle. They lean a little more toward Russia. And by leaning a little more toward Russia, I do not mean supplying weapons directly, but being more open to them, more willing to help them than us. When it comes to such a large country, ‘a little’ means a lot,” Zelensky stressed.
