Russia ‘dragging’ Beijing into war

President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday said Russia was “dragging” China into the war in Ukraine, as he accused Beijing of knowing that dozens of its citizens were being recruited by Moscow’s army to fight.

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Mr Zelensky — whose war leadership has hit turbulence with Donald Trump in the White House — also said that Kyiv was ready to buy up to US$50 billion (1.7 trillion baht) of US military equipment.

He said Ukzainian officials were due to hold a meeting with a US delegation next week as part of Washington's efforts to push Moscow and Kyiv to agree to a ceasefire.

Kyiv had details of more than 150 Chinese nationals who had deployed to the front, Mr Zelensky said, a day after claiming Ukraine's army had captured two Chinese citizens fighting in the eastern Donetsk region.

Mr Zelensky said Ukraine was ready to release the captured Chinese citizens in exchange for Ukrainian POWs held in Russia.

“Such an overt involvement of Chinese citizens in combat operations on the territory of Ukraine is a deliberate step towards expanding the war,’ Mr Zelensky said. “This is yet another indication that Moscow simply needs to drag out the fighting.”

The fresh criticism of both Russia and China came hours after Beijing rejected the idea that its citizens had been recruited in big numbers to fight with Russia, and warned Chinese nationals to “avoid involvement in armed conflicts’

“This is the second mistake for Russia. The first was North Korea. They drag other countries into war. I believe that they are now dragging China into this war,’ Mr Zelensky told reporters in Kyiv.