Ukraine war: Chinese troops caught fighting for Russia, says Zelensky
Russia has strained its fragile relations with America by criticising President Donald Trump’s tariff war with China as Beijing responds to claims their soldiers are fighting for the Kremlin.
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Russia said that US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs showed his disregard for the foundations of international trade, as Moscow raised concerns about a global trade war.
Mr Trump’s punishing tariffs on dozens of economies took effect Wednesday, including over 100 per cent on China, as Beijing vowed “forceful” action in an intensifying trade war that sparked fresh panic on the markets.
Russia has deepened economic and political ties to China since launching its offensive on Ukraine three years ago but is also pushing a rapprochement with Washington and hopes to have Western sanctions lifted.
The imposition of tariffs violates fundamental World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules and “demonstrates that Washington no longer considers itself bound by the norms of international trade law,” Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters at a televised briefing in Moscow.
Moscow has been cautious in its criticism of Trump’s policies since he returned to the White House in January, hoping it can convince him to get behind a Ukraine peace deal that benefits Russia.
But officials have in recent days expressed some concern over sliding oil prices – crucial for Moscow’s public finances – since Trump launched his tariff blitz.
“Any shock to the world economy, threatening a slowdown in growth and general decline in consumption, has a negative outlook on lots of global processes,” Zakharova said.
“The situation raises all the more serious concern when we are talking about two of the world’s major economies,” she added.
Russia’s central bank chief Elvira Nabiullina also called the unfolding trade war a “significant risk”, saying that “tectonic changes in global trade” were underway.
“It is still very difficult to judge where they will lead the world economy and how it will affect Russia. It is a new significant risk that we must consider,” she said in a hearing with Russian parliamentarians.
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CHINA RESPONDS TO ALLEGATIONS ITS CITIZENS ARE FIGHTING WITH RUSSIA
China urged its citizens to avoid conflict zones and participating in wars, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his troops had captured two Chinese citizens fighting with Russia.
“The Chinese side is verifying relevant information with the Ukrainian side,” foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said.
“The Chinese government has always asked its citizens to stay away from areas of armed conflict (and) avoid involvement in armed conflicts in any form.” Mr Zelensky told reporters that Ukrainian troops had captured the two Chinese citizens fighting with Russian forces in the Donetsk region of Ukraine.
The prisoners were likely Chinese citizens who were enticed into signing a contract with the Russian army, rather than being sent by Beijing.
The Kremlin declined to comment on the allegations.
“I have no way of commenting on this issue,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, including journalists from AFP, on Wednesday local time (Thursday AEST).
‘CHINESE FIGHTING IN RUSSIAN ARMY’: ZELENSKY
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukrainian troops had captured two Chinese citizens fighting alongside Russian forces, adding that Kyiv would demand an explanation from Beijing and a reaction from its allies.
Moscow and Beijing have in recent years boasted of their “no limits” partnership and deepened political, military and economic co-operation since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
“Our military captured two Chinese citizens who fought in the Russian army. This happened on the territory of Ukraine – in the Donetsk region,” Mr Zelensky said in a post on social media.
“We have the documents of these prisoners, bank cards, and personal data,” he said in a post that included a video of one of the alleged Chinese prisoners.
There was no immediate response to the claims from either Moscow or Beijing but Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said on social media that China’s charge d’affaires had been summoned for an explanation.
“Chinese citizens fighting as part of Russia’s invasion army in Ukraine puts into question China’s declared stance for peace and undermines Beijing’s credibility as a responsible permanent member of the UN Security Council,” Sybiga said.
China presents itself as a neutral party in the conflict and says it is not sending lethal assistance to either side, unlike the United States and other Western nations.
But it is a close political and economic ally of Russia and NATO members have branded Beijing a “decisive enabler” of Moscow’s invasion, which it has never condemned.
The United States said it was alarmed, saying it showed Beijing’s level of support for Russia.
“It’s disturbing with the Chinese soldiers having been captured,” State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters.
“China is a major enabler of Russia in the war in Ukraine. China provides nearly 80 per cent of the dual use items Russia needs to sustain the war,” she said.
“Continued co-operation between these two nuclear powers will only further contribute to global instability and make the United States and other countries less safe, less secure and less prosperous,” she said.
The United States, since the administration of Joe Biden, has taken China to task for sending Russia dual-use items, which can be used for civilian or military purposes.
President Donald Trump has called for prioritising efforts to counter China and has sought to negotiate.
VATICAN’S INCREDIBLE GIFT FOR UKRAINE
Pope Francis is donating four ambulances to Ukraine to be used on the front lines of the war with Russia, the Vatican said.
Since Moscow invaded its neighbour in February 2022, the pope has donated three ambulances, a hospital van and ultrasound machines for hospitals targeted by military strikes, as well as generators, food and medicine.
“The Holy Father has decided once again to send his almoner to Ukraine to offer four ambulances, equipped with all medical equipment necessary to save human lives, which will be intended for war zones,” the Vatican said in a statement.
Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the papal almoner, is the head of the Dicastery for the Service of Charity.
The ambulances will carry the coat of arms of the Vatican.
“In this time of Easter rebirth, the pope wanted to make a gesture of closeness in one of the most painful places where the war has been raging for three years, the martyred Ukraine,” read the Vatican statement.
Despite his repeated pleas for an end of the war, the Argentine pope has been ineffective in securing a ceasefire. But the Vatican has played a role in bringing about prisoner exchanges between Kyiv and Moscow.
Francis, 88, has been convalescing at the Vatican since being released from a Rome hospital on March 23 following five weeks of treatment for pneumonia.
‘PRESSURE ON RUSSIA IS INSUFFICIENT’
President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Moscow is increasing its aerial bombardment after Russia mounted a “massive” missile and drone attack on Ukraine overnight, killing two people and wounding at least seven.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that “the number of Russian air attacks is increasing”, which he said proved that “the pressure on Russia is still insufficient”.
Russia on Sunday claimed the capture of a village in Ukraine’s Sumy region in a rare cross-border advance.
Early Sunday Russia “launched a massive nationwide attack on Ukraine using ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones,” said first deputy prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko.
“Preliminarily, one person was killed, and three were wounded, two of them were hospitalised,” the head of the city’s military administration, Tymur Tkachenko, wrote on social media.
City mayor Vitali Klitschko said that “the body of a man killed in an enemy attack was discovered in Darnytsia district. He was on the street, near the epicentre of the explosion. The man’s identity is being established.”
A missile strike partially destroyed a building housing state foreign-language broadcasters, the Russian-language Freedom television channel reported, saying that its newsroom had been destroyed.
Overnight, Russia attacked Ukraine with 23 cruise and ballistic missiles and 109 drones, the Ukrainian air force said, causing damage to six regions.
In the southern Kherson region, a drone killed a 59-year-old man, while in the northeastern Kharkiv region near the border with Russia two were injured in an attack using guided aerial bombs, regional officials said.
Over the past week, Russia has launched more than 1,460 guided aerial bombs, nearly 670 attack drones, and over 30 missiles of various types on Ukraine, Zelensky said.
– with AFP
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Originally published as Ukraine war: Chinese troops caught fighting for Russia, says Zelensky