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President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia and China of attempting to undermine his upcoming global peace summit in Switzerland. He said Russia was trying to dissuade other states from attending the event, and that China was working to do this as well.
Speaking at an Asian security forum, he also said there were “elements of Russia’s weaponry” that come from China.
Beijing is accused of aiding Moscow by sending components for weapons. It is also seen as propping up the Russian economy by purchasing vast quantities of oil and gas, softening the impact of Western sanctions.
Mr Zelensky made a surprise appearance at the Shangri-la Dialogue in Singapore attended by defence chiefs from around the world, including US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Chinese defence minister Dong Jun.
The visit was aimed at drumming up support from Asian countries. Besides meeting regional leaders, he also urged delegates to attend his summit due to be held later in June.
Mr Zelensky said it would focus on achieving nuclear security, food security, and the release of prisoners of war and Ukrainian children held in Russia.
So far 106 countries said they would send high-level representatives or their leaders to the summit, he said.
Russia has not been invited and China is not attending.
A formal invitation was not issued to Russia as Moscow had told Switzerland early on that it did not want to participate.
Mr Zelensky claimed that Russia was attempting to disrupt the summit by pressuring countries not to attend, through threats of a blockade of agricultural goods, chemical goods, and energy.
Certain countries were assisting this “diplomatic disruption”, he added.
He named China later on, and said it was “working for countries to not come to the peace summit”, unlike the US which has promised to send a high-level representative and is encouraging others to attend.
Mr Zelensky also said China's leader Xi Jinping had earlier promised him they would “stand aside in this war and would not support Russia with weapons”.
The US has said that China is helping Russia make more munitions, armoured vehicles and missiles. It estimates about 70% of the machine tools and 90% of the microelectronics Russia imports come from China.
Earlier on Sunday, Chinese defence minister Dong Jun said they do not supply weapons to either party of the Ukraine conflict.
Lewis Musonye
