For the first time, the United States has identified Chinese companies that manufacture weapons themselves, which are then sent to Russia and used by the Kremlin on the battlefield against Ukraine.
This was announced at a briefing by US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller.
Earlier it became known that two such Chinese firms were sanctioned for ‘involvement in the development and production of the Russian long-range unmanned aerial vehicle Harpy’. The sanctions list also includes the Russian company Trading House Vector and its CEO.
‘This was the first time we imposed sanctions on a number of these companies. It was the first time we actually saw a Chinese company producing weapons that Russia then used on the battlefield, sent to Russia, and then used on the battlefield. And that is why we imposed sanctions,’ the official said.
Miller emphasised that before that, Washington had watched China produce dual-use goods that the Russians used to produce weapons.
‘For some time, Chinese companies have been supplying components to Russian companies, which were then used by Russian companies to make machines, weapons and other components that Russia could use in its war,’ he said.