US secretary of state: China is main supplier to Russia’s military industry
China is the primary contributor to Russia's military industry complex, as Moscow grinds ahead with its invasion of Ukraine, providing Russia with inputs and components for weaponry, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday during a meeting of G7 ministers in Capri, Italy.
“When it comes to Russian’s defense the primary contributor at this moment to that, is China. We see China sharing machine tools, semi-conductors, other dual use items that have helped Russia rebuild its defense industrial base that sanctions and export controls had done so much to degrade,” he said.
Blinken said China cannot have it both ways — helping Russia and keeping good relations with Europe.
"If China purports on the one hand to want good relations with Europe and other countries, it can't on the other hand be fueling what is the biggest threat to European security since the end of the Cold War," Blinken tells a press conference after a meeting of G7 foreign ministers on the Italian island of Capri, where he urged his European counterparts to increase pressure on Beijing.
Blinken said if aid to Ukraine is further delayed, there is real risk it will arrive too late. He underscored it is imperative for Ukraine to get more resources immediately.
G7 warns Iran
The Group of Seven foreign ministers on Friday also warned Iran against “substantive material escalation in its support for Russia’s war in Ukraine,” in a joint statement released after their meetings in Italy.
“We are extremely concerned by reports that Iran is considering transferring ballistic missiles and related technology to Russia,” said the G7 foreign ministers. Should Iran proceed, they added, “we are prepared to respond in a swift and coordinated manner, including with new and significant measures against Iran.”
Top diplomats from the world’s largest developed economies reaffirmed their support for Ukraine's defense, financial, political, humanitarian, economic, and development after this week’s talks, pledging to “bolster Ukraine’s air defense capabilities” and protect critical infrastructure.
“We condemn Russia’s recent missile and drone strikes against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and cities across Ukraine,” said the G7 foreign ministers in the joint statement, following recent attacks on Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant that have raised concerns about the potential for a major nuclear accident.
As top ministers met this week, the fighting continued. At least eight people were killed in overnight Russian strikes in Ukraine’s central Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukrainian officials said Friday.
The interior ministry said six people, including two children, were killed in the Synelnykivsky area southeast of Dnipro, and two others were killed in Dnipro.
In a message on social media, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday the attack damaged a residential building and a train station in Dnipro, the regional capital.
“Every country that provides air defence systems to Ukraine, every leader who helps persuade our partners that air defence systems should not be stored in warehouses but deployed in real cities and communities facing terror, and everyone who supports our defence is a life saver,” Zelenskyy said on social media, in an appeal to allies for better air defense systems.
Ukraine’s air force said it shot down15 missiles and 14 drones during the attack. The military also said it shot down for the first time a Russian Tu-22M3 strategic bomber. The Russian warplane is capable of carrying long-range missiles used to attack Ukrainian cities.
“For the first time, anti-aircraft missile units of the Air Force, in cooperation with the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine, destroyed a Tu-22M3 long-range strategic bomber, Ukrainian Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk said in a statement on social media.
The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement Friday the strategic bomber had crashed in Russia’s southern Stavropol region, hundreds of kilometers from Ukrainian-controlled territory, as it returned to base after carrying out a combat mission. It said one of the four crew members had died. Two others were taken to a local medical center. It said the other crew member was still missing.
Zelenskyy said in his evening address on Thursday the military is on track to produce 10 Bohdana howitzers this month. “This is a good result,” he said, for the country’s production of defense materials.
Zelenskyy said the talks with the military also included discussions about Ukraine’s border communities including the information field, topics that included access to Ukrainian television signals and the blocking of Russian propaganda.
Zelenskyy said Russian propaganda “is invariably followed by, at the very least, destabilization and, at worst, an attempted occupation.” He said Ukraine and its partners would “work together” to counteract any Russian influence and deal with any technological challenges.
Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
The Voice of America provides news and information in more than 40 languages to an estimated weekly audience of over 326 million people. Stories with the VOA News byline are the work of multiple VOA journalists and may contain information from wire service reports.
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3 of May 2024
