China has informed Ukraine that their bilateral relations may suffer because Kyiv has declared more than a dozen Chinese companies international war sponsors. Reuters reports this, citing Ukrainian anonymous sources, UNN reports .
Details
According to the newspaper, the warning was conveyed to Ukraine last month at a meeting between the Chinese ambassador in Kyiv and senior Ukrainian government officials, two anonymous sources told the agency.
Ukraine has listed 48 companies worldwide, including 14 from China, as "international sponsors of war" whose activities contribute to the Kremlin's military machine.
The ambassador said that all this (the situation with the blacklist) could negatively affect our relations,
The second source suggested that Beijing might link the issue to China's purchases of Ukrainian grain.
Before Russia's full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022, China was Ukraine's largest trading partner and remains an important consumer of Ukrainian grain, oil, and iron ore.
Addendum
The newspaper notes that although China is seen as an ally of the Kremlin, Ukraine has been careful not to anger the world's second largest economy throughout the war with Moscow, and it has repeatedly called on Beijing to join Kyiv's diplomatic efforts to establish peace.
Ukraine has been promoting its peace plan at a series of international summits. China attended one of the meetings in Jeddah last year, but has since refrained from participating.
On Tuesday, China said that Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong met with Ukraine's ambassador to Beijing and exchanged views on issues of common interest, and that Sun said the countries should respect and treat each other sincerely.
Recall
After the war broke out, China expanded trade with Moscow in sectors such as oil and gas, which are Moscow's main source of revenue.
In October last year, the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption added three major Chinese oil and gas companies to the list of international sponsors of the war.