Head of his intelligence services Ukrainian Kirill Budanov sees no “evidence” leading him to believe that China will deliver weapons Russiahe said in an interview broadcast Monday yesterday by the Voice of America radio station.

“I don’t share that view,” Budanov said in this Ukrainian-language interview on Feb. 25, referring to US allegations — which Beijing vehemently denies — that China is planning to supply arms to Russia to help it attack Ukraine. .

“Now I don’t believe that China will agree to hand over weapons to Russia (…) I don’t see any signs that such a thing is even being discussed,” he added.

When asked about American complaints, Budanov replied: “I am the head of the Intelligence Service and rely, with all due respect, not on personal, private opinions, but only on evidence. I see no such evidence.”

The allegations of Chinese arms shipments to Russia were echoed by CIA Director William Burns in an interview broadcast by the American television network CBS on Sunday evening, the day before Budanov’s speech.

“We are convinced that Chinese leaders are considering providing lethal equipment to Russia,” Burns said.

Iran is “practically the only country that supplies Russia with more or less serious weapons,” a Ukrainian official commented. “There have been reports that something is coming from North Korea, but we have no confirmation. There is not a single incident where we would have recorded weapons from North Korea here,” he continued.

“Russia is just trying to buy anything, anywhere. Because they have big problems, ”concluded Budanov.

^{Source: APE-MEB, AFP.}