China won't supply lethal weapons to Russia - diplomat Ohryzko

He expressed this opinion on Espreso TV. 

The diplomat commented on the likelihood of China's military assistance to Russia and the possible consequences for the Chinese economy.

“My personal opinion is that China will not take such a step. And even the fact that there are discussions about Beijing's search for ways to help Russia through third parties, through Lukashenko or through some countries in Asia, already shows that China is afraid of direct arms supplies to Russia. If it wanted to do this, it would have done it long ago and would not have looked for third countries. Therefore, I think that the maximum that China can do is to quietly transfer conditional chips to Russia,” the former Ukrainian FM said.

Volodymyr Ohryzko explained that it is possible that China could supply Russia with things that are actually difficult to control and easy to pack in conventional washing machines to send to the civilian population, and then these things will be used for military purposes.

“But in China, they can't help but calculate the consequences of such steps, because these consequences will be terrible for the Chinese economy. And this is not only the position of the United States and Germany, but other European leaders are already talking about this bilaterally. A number of visits to China are being prepared by European leaders who will discuss this topic and explain to the Chinese leadership what the closure of European markets will mean for China. This is exactly what Washington is talking about, and not only European markets, but also North American ones. So the price of such a step would be suicidal for the Chinese economy. I tend to think that Xi Jinping is an adequate person and will not do this, because he understands the threat to his country,” Ohryzko said.

• On February 28, the United States warned China that lethal aid to Russia would have consequences for it in the world.

• On March 2, Reuters reported that the United States and allies are discussing sanctions against China for providing weapons to Russia for the war in Ukraine.