Russia has received war aid from China

  

 

Russia's invasion of Ukraine China has secretly helped Russia 

 

Of:  

 

Emil Forsberg 

 

Published: Today 15.28   

 

Updated: Today 19.03  

 

NEWS 

 

China has helped Russia with technology needed in the war against Ukraine, the

Wall Street Journal

reports.  

 

Navigation equipment, jamming transmitters and parts for fighter planes are said to have been smuggled. 

 

 Many of the shipments are said to have passed through Turkey.  

 

By examining Russian customs data, the Wall Street Journal can show how tens of thousands of commercial and military shipments were sent to Russia. Most of them should have come from China, according to the WSJ.  

 

The deliveries include both navigation equipment, jamming transmitters and parts for fighter aircraft that are said to have been used in the war against Ukraine.  

 

Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping at a meeting in Uzbekistan last September. Photo: Sergei Bobylev / AP  

 

The Western sanctions package launched in February was meant to cripple the Russian war machine by blocking exports, but customs documents show how Russia can still import technology through countries that have refused to join the US-led blockade. 

 

Sent via Turkey 

 

Many of the goods the WSJ checked were reportedly funneled through countries such as Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, which have been accused of flouting the sanctions. 

 

 

Russian rocket fire at targets in Ukraine. Photo: Russian Defense Ministry Press Service/AP 

 

Turkish officials have argued that the sanctions are ineffective and that Ankara plays an important role as a dialogue partner with Russia, writes the WSJ.  

 

Russia has not wanted to respond to the accusations about whether it received military equipment from China.  

 

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says that "Russia has enough technology to ensure its own security and carry out the special military operation." 

 

"Close your eyes with one eye" 

 

 Kjell Engelbrekt, professor of political science at the Norwegian Defense Academy, is not surprised by the Chinese deliveries to Russia. 

 

- Russia and China have had a strategic cooperation for more than two decades and it is not likely that China would limit its trade exchange at a time when Russia needs a lot of goods. The only question is how to assist Russia without suffering US sanctions and complicating the relationship with the EU, he says and continues: 

 

- This is roughly what you can expect. They do not send military equipment themselves, but the products can be used for military purposes. You can say that you close your eyes with one eye.  

 

China's support for Russia during the ongoing war against Ukraine was one of the items on the agenda for US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's trip to Beijing. 

 

The trip was postponed indefinitely after the Pentagon located a suspected Chinese spy balloon over the United States earlier this week.  

 

Kjell Engelbrekt does not believe that the Wall Street Journal's disclosure will improve the dialogue. 

 

- It suggests that it is a bit frosty between China and the US right now, this is something that can further fuel it