China’s foreign ministry on Wednesday rejected accusations by Ukraine that more Chinese citizens were fighting there on behalf of Russia, calling the assertion “groundless.”
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine had said a day earlier, without providing evidence, that two Chinese men fighting alongside Russian troops had been captured and that there were “many more” on the battlefield. The Trump administration, which has escalated a trade war against China, called the news “disturbing.”
On Wednesday, a spokesman for China’s foreign ministry, Lin Jian, said that Beijing was “verifying the relevant situation” about the two men with Ukraine. He dismissed the suggestion that many more Chinese citizens were fighting for Russia and stressed that Beijing instructed its citizens to avoid any involvement in armed conflicts.
“China’s position in the Ukraine crisis is very clear and is widely recognized by the international community,” Mr. Lin told a news briefing.
The back-and-forth comes at a tense time for both Ukraine and China. The Trump administration has drawn closer to Moscow while trying to act as a mediator in cease-fire talks with Kyiv, and it has also taken aim at Beijing, with a sharp escalation of threats and a 104 percent tariff on all Chinese goods that went into effect on Wednesday.
The State Department spokeswoman, Tammy Bruce, on Tuesday called the report of Chinese citizens fighting for Russia as “disturbing.”
“China is a major enabler of Russia in the war in Ukraine,” Ms. Bruce told a news briefing, citing Beijing’s provision of what Washington regards as dual-use items that Moscow needs to sustain the fighting.
“As President Trump has said, continued cooperation 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 added.
Although China has claimed neutrality in the war, it has provided Russia with diplomatic and economic backing during the conflict — support that the Biden administration said had allowed Russia to sustain its offensive.
China buys large quantities of Russian oil and supplies Moscow with technologies that can be used on the battlefield, such as drones. Since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Presidents Xi Jinping of China and Vladimir V. Putin of Russia have met several times and deepened their ties to include more military cooperation.
In his remarks on Tuesday, Mr. Zelensky did not suggest that the Chinese fighters had been sent by Beijing’s military, but he cited their presence as further proof that Mr. Putin is not interested in peace.
Both Russia and Ukraine have had foreign fighters in their ranks throughout the more than three years of war. In most cases, they are foreign volunteers or mercenaries, though Russia’s military has enlisted the help of North Korean soldiers.
The presence of Chinese fighters on the front lines in Ukraine has not been reported in the Chinese state news media, but there have been unverified reports on social media in China of mercenaries from the country fighting in Ukraine.
