Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told the Japanese broadcaster NHK this week that the Chinese Communist Party’s refusal to support his country amid the ongoing invasion by Russia makes “a lot” of difference, even if China is only “a little” biased towards Russia, because of its outsized international influence.
Zelensky called it “a pity” that Chinese dictator Xi Jinping had chosen to side with longtime ally Russia and not take any meaningful action to end the four-year-old invasion, as Beijing could be a significant influence moving humanity toward world peace. His comments are a notable contrast from the optimism that he presented towards China at the beginning of the full-scale invasion, when he invited Xi to speak with him directly and suggested that Chinese companies could profit significantly from helping rebuild a post-war Ukraine.
China and Ukraine are nominal allies, and Ukraine is a member of China’s predatory Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in which China offers predatory loans to poorer countries intended to be used to pay Chinese companies for overpriced infrastructure projects. Kyiv had signed a major infrastructure cooperation agreement with China in the months before strongman Vladimir Putin announced his “special operation” to oust Zelensky from power and take over large swathes of Ukrainian territory. That relationship has deteriorated since the invasion as China has attempted to defend Russian interests while vaguely calling for peace, keeping a distance from Zelensky. Xi and Zelensky have spoken only once since the “special operation” began in February 2022.
In conversation with NHK, Zelensky discussed the direct involvement of North Korea in the invasion in detail and lamented that China, while not as overtly participating in the conflict, had aided Russia’s interests in it. The communist government of North Korea has admitted to sending thousands of troops to the Russian front lines, claiming they were working on demining projects, though the Ukrainians have accused the North Koreans of actively fighting in the conflict.
“It’s a big problem because it was not expensive for North Korea just to send people, and they begin to learn modern war where they can do it for today,” Zelensky explained. In comments he later published from the same interview, he compared North Korea’s participation to China’s.
“I saw a real missile made by North Korea in Ukraine. I did not see a Chinese missile. But I know that their technologies get to Russia. The machinery they use comes from China, likely along with smart people and technologies,” Zelensky said.
“I don’t see China pushing Russia to stop the war. I never saw that. Maybe they do that during some of their bilateral meetings. I don’t know,” he continued. “But I think that they have huge influence over Russia, especially now, when there are a lot of sanctions, the shadow fleet, and cut-off energy and banking systems.”
“It’s a pity that China is not on our side in this war, politically. It’s not even about weapons. It’s about political will. And it’s a pity because this war can be stopped immediately by strong leaders, including China,” Zelensky suggested. “The problem is that they are not in the middle. Because they are a little bit more with Russia. And for them to be a little bit more with Russia — I mean, not to give weapons directly, but to be more open to them, more helpful to them than to us — for such a big country, a little bit is a lot.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Zelensky said he was interested in defense cooperation with Japan, whose conservative government is technically in an active state of war with Russia since World War II and which has supported Ukraine in the invasion. Japanese leaders have compared the Russian invasion of Ukraine with a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, arguing that deterring Russia would also deter China.
“Of course, we very much want to build mil-tech cooperation between Ukraine and Japan… I think that we can be useful to each other,” he said. “We wanted to have a Drone Deal with Japan. Perhaps you will need some defensive equipment. This is, of course, up to Japan to decide. Again, we are thankful for all the support.”
In the early days of the war, Zelensky expressed hope that he could work with China to convince Russia to halt its assault as quickly as possible. In comments to the South China Morning Post in August 2022, Zelensky said China was powerful enough to “put the Russian Federation [in] a certain place” and “politically, economically influence Russia.”
“I would like to talk directly,” he said, referring to Xi. “I had one conversation with [President] Xi Jinping that was a year ago. Since the beginning of the large-scale aggression on February 24, we have asked officially for a conversation, but we [haven’t had] any conversation with China even though I believe that would be helpful.”
Zelensky also said he hoped to see “Chinese businesses” help rebuild Ukraine.
Xi and Zelensky ultimately shared a phone call in April 2023, which Zelensky at the time called “long and meaningful,” but this did not result in any meaningful changes in the relationship between Kyiv and Beijing. Ukraine also welcomed a Chinese envoy, former ambassador to Moscow Li Hui, a month later, but Li’s intervention also did not appear to impact the situation in any material way.
The relationship deteriorated as China continued to defend Russian interests at the United Nations and after Zelensky announced his troops had caught Chinese nationals fighting on behalf of Russia. In April 2025, Zelensky published video of men he claimed were Chinese citizens, as verified by identification documents they were carrying.
“The Chinese are fighting on the territory of Ukraine. And I think this is an important point that we need to discuss with our partners. I think it is urgent,” the president said. “I understand that we are a strong country, but we cannot fight many countries at the same time, which all need something on our land.”
The Chinese government has never admitted to deliberately sending People’s Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers to fight in Ukraine, nor did it accept responsibility for the men caught in 2025.
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