How China forgot promises and ‘debts’ to Ukraine, and backed Russia’s war

As Chinese person Xi Jinping stood beside Russian President Vladimir Putin successful Beijing past week, helium claimed to beryllium moving towards a “true multilateralism” successful which nations dainty each different arsenic equals and debar “hegemonism and powerfulness politics” – a vocabulary the Chinese president returns to with regularity.

China is officially neutral successful Russia’s warfare successful Ukraine, and Xi has presented himself arsenic a mediator, inviting Putin, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and United States President Donald Trump to Beijing successful December for talks.

But China is not equidistant from the neighbours astatine war.

Xi’s “no limits” confederation with Putin, pronounced conscionable earlier the full-scale Russian penetration of Ukraine, puts him successful the campy of an aggressor bent connected “hegemonism”, experts archer Al Jazeera.

Three decades ago, however, China was Ukraine’s ally, not Russia’s.

When Ukraine agreed to springiness up its atomic weapons successful instrumentality for information guarantees from Russia successful 1994, China lauded the determination and, successful December of that year, offered Kyiv atomic information guarantees should it ever beryllium attacked by a atomic power.

In 2013, Ukraine and China signed a Treaty of Friendship undertaking that “none of the sides shall instrumentality immoderate enactment that harms the sovereignty, security, oregon territorial integrity of the different side”.

Vita Golod, an adept connected Chinese-Ukrainian relations astatine the University of North Carolina successful Chapel Hill, said Beijing has betrayed some undertakings.

“These commitments person truthful acold remained mostly rhetorical and person not translated into factual information guarantees for Ukraine,” she told Al Jazeera. “In 2024, Ukraine attempted to punctual China of these assurances during its entreaty astatine the United Nations, calling for peculiar information guarantees from atomic states.”

Instead, China helped Russia scupper condemnations of its penetration of Ukraine successful the UN Security Council.

A 12-point presumption insubstantial China published successful February 2023 refused to condemn Russia’s warfare and echoed the Kremlin’s talking points, specified arsenic initiating bid talks without the precondition of a Russian withdrawal from Ukraine.

“Beijing lacks the credibility to enactment arsenic an honorable broker betwixt Ukraine and Russia,” said Plamen Tonchev, a China adept astatine the Institute of International Economic Relations (IIER), an Athens-based deliberation tank. “I don’t deliberation that it acted arsenic a guarantor. On the contrary, it ditched Ukraine.”

Ukraine’s ‘strategic scepticism’ connected China

In June 2024, Ukraine attempted to bring countries to a bid league hosted by Switzerland. China did not attend, and Ukraine accused it of pressing different Asian nations to abstain.

At a code successful Singapore, Zelenskyy lashed retired astatine Russia for “using Chinese power successful the region, utilizing Chinese diplomats also”, and doing “everything to disrupt the bid summit”.

Xi has met Putin, whom European leaders openly notation to arsenic a warfare criminal, 5 times since the full-scale penetration began.

“Ukraine has moved from caution to unfastened strategical scepticism,” said Velina Tchakarova, laminitis of Vienna-based forecaster For a Conscious Experience (FACE). “China is nary longer seen arsenic a imaginable mediator but arsenic a strategical adversary masked successful neutral rhetoric.

“Ukraine is truthful deepening its integration with NATO, aligning with the G7 reconstruction framework, and engaging successful tech and defence practice with Indo-Pacific democracies arsenic portion of a broader anti-revisionist coalition.”

Material interests

China moved rapidly from diplomatic enactment and governmental rehabilitation to worldly assistance.

As aboriginal arsenic February 2023, then-US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington had “information that they’re considering providing lethal support”, successful a notation to China.

“The US is successful nary presumption to archer China what to do,” responded Wang Wenbin, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman.

Last April, Ukraine accused China of sending artillery shells and gunpowder to Russia and sanctioned 3 Chinese companies – an aeronautics steadfast and 2 concern components companies.

The European Union followed. In May, it included Chinese firms successful a 17th bundle of sanctions for supplying dual-use goods to Russia’s warfare machine.

China denied supplying deadly arms and said it strictly controlled the export of dual-use goods.

But a July investigative study by the Reuters quality bureau said Chinese firms were single-handedly sustaining Russian drone accumulation by shipping engines mislabelled arsenic “industrial refrigeration units” to Russia’s drone assembly plants.

Last period alone, Ukraine said it downed 6,173 drones launched by Russia.

Residents basal extracurricular their damaged flat gathering deed during a Russian rocket and drone onslaught successful Kyiv, Ukraine, connected July 31, 2025 [Thomas Peter/Reuters]

China has besides helped Russia financially by refusing to articulation the EU and the US successful banning imports of Russian energy.

On the contrary, Putin and Xi signed an statement past week to conception a caller state pipeline supplying China with arsenic overmuch arsenic 50 cardinal cubic metres (bcm) of state a year, successful summation to the 38bcm China receives from an existing pipeline. On August 29, China received its archetypal shipment of liquefied earthy state from Russia’s Arctic LNG 2 project, a sanctioned liquefaction plant.

“Russia is cementing its governmental and economical dependence connected China,” said Andriy Kovalenko, caput of Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation. “China is … dictating inexpensive prices, terms, and deadlines, forcing Moscow to motion agreements that crook it into an appendage.”

That dependence whitethorn spell beyond vigor revenues and concern production. Ukraine suspects China is spying connected Russia’s behalf. Last September, Zelenskyy said Chinese satellites were photographing Ukrainian atomic powerfulness plants, perchance successful mentation for a Russian strike.

In July, the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) arrested Chinese citizens aft it allegedly recovered classified documents connected their mobile phones with the specifications of Ukraine’s Neptune rocket system. Ukraine utilized the Neptune to descend Russia’s Black Sea Fleet flagship, the Moskva, successful 2022.

China’s indebtedness to Ukraine

In summation to “Beijing’s pro-Russia neutrality”, arsenic IIER’s Tonchev enactment it, China has overlooked a historical indebtedness to Ukraine, said analysts.

“China owes Ukraine a lot. It would not present beryllium a adjacent rival to the US without important transfers of exertion from Ukraine,” said a European China adept connected information of anonymity.

In 1998, a Chinese nationalist bought the hull of an unfinished Soviet craft carrier, the Varyag, from Ukraine and towed it to China, allegedly to person it into a casino.

“The vas was aboriginal refurbished, militarised, and launched arsenic the Liaoning, laying the instauration for China’s modern craft bearer programme and broader naval modernisation,” said North Carolina University’s Golod.

“This aboriginal occurrence exemplified China’s exploitation of post-Soviet weakness to physique its ain subject capabilities utilizing Ukrainian technology,” said Tchakarova of FACE.

“It was the starting constituent successful China’s strategy to physique bearer conflict groups and heighten the interoperability of its navy and aerial forces,” said Tonchev.

But different subject exertion people was of acold greater interest.

In 2016, Beijing Skyrizon Aviation sought to get a controlling involvement successful Ukraine’s Motor Sich, 1 of the world’s apical makers of engines for cargo craft and helicopters. Rich with Soviet aeronautics technology, the institution was impoverished by the nonaccomplishment of its main client, Russia, which had waged warfare successful Ukraine’s Donbas region. China saw Motor Sich arsenic cardinal to its rearmament.

But 2016 was a wake-up telephone for Europe, arsenic Chinese appliance shaper Midea acquired Kuka, Germany’s starring robotics company, and the China Ocean Shipping Company, a state-owned enterprise, bought the Piraeus Port Authority successful Greece to facilitate Chinese exports to Europe.

China’s State Grid, different authorities behemoth, was recovered to person bought up a drawstring of European energy networks arsenic the EU thought it was privatising them.

The superior spending had governmental implications. Eastern European countries similar Hungary and Greece were breaking ranks with Europe connected argumentation positions towards China.

“If we bash not win … successful processing a azygous strategy towards China, past China volition win successful dividing Europe,” German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said successful September.

France, Germany and Italy requested a Europe-wide screening mechanics for overseas mergers and acquisitions, and the EU declared China a non-market economy.

In this governmental climate, and nether US pressure, Ukraine stopped the merchantability of Motor Sich and nationalised the company. Beijing Skyrizon Aviation sued Ukraine for $4.5bn.

“Today … determination is nary progressive subject oregon delicate technological practice betwixt Ukraine and China. The narration has cooled significantly,” said Golod.

Front, from left, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean person Kim Jong Un get astatine a subject parade to commemorate the 80th day of Japan’s World War II surrender successful Beijing, China, September 3, 2025 [Sergei Bobylev/Sputnik/Kremlin via AP]

There were different interests.

“By 2021, China was the largest importer of Ukrainian barley and corn, accounting for implicit 30 percent of its maize imports. Ukrainian sunflower oil, robust ore, and titanium were important to China’s nutrient information and concern base,” said Tchakarova. All those goods present travel from Russia.

China’s imports from Ukraine present magnitude to $4bn – a fraction of the $130bn it spends connected Russian imports, according to the UN’s Comtrade database.

What, then, is China’s crippled successful Ukraine? It appears to clasp a balanced position. China helped discourage Putin from immoderate usage of atomic weapons. It has not recognised the annexation of the 4 provinces Russia claims – Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Kherson. It is funny successful reconstruction. It is consenting to big talks and perchance lend troops to a peacekeeping force.

But, Tonchev said, self-interest drives immoderate of these positions. China’s enactment of “territorial integrity” and the renunciation of separatism “suited some sides, with a presumption to Taiwan”, helium said. And successful discussions helium has had with Chinese analysts, “China is improbable to enactment arsenic a donor … In fact, erstwhile I rise this question, there’s deafening silence.”

Ultimately, believed Tchakarova, China is strategically supporting Russia to drain Western power.

In Beijing, Putin and Xi openly supported a caller satellite order. That, said Tchakarova, meant “replacing the Western-led, rules-based bid with a multipolar strategy that tolerates spheres of power and territorial revisionism”.

In claiming Ukrainian lands, Russia is intelligibly successful favour of specified revisionism successful Europe.