US imposes first sanctions on Chinese firms for making weapons for Russia’s war in Ukraine

The United States has imposed sanctions on two China-based drone suppliers and their alleged Russian partners, the first time it has penalized Chinese companies for supplying complete weapons systems to Russia for its war in Ukraine.

Washington has long accused China of supporting Russia’s war effort by supplying dual-use goods and components that could be used in the manufacture of weapons, which Beijing denies. But in an announcement Thursday, the US Treasury Department accused the Chinese firms of direct involvement in arms supplies to Moscow.

The Chinese companies had collaborated with Russian defense firms in the production of Moscow’s “Garpiya series” long-range unmanned aerial vehicles, the department said in a statement. The drones were designed, developed and made in China before being sent to Russia for use in the battlefield, it said.

“The Garpiya has been deployed by Russia in its brutal war against Ukraine, destroying critical infrastructure and causing mass casualties,” it said.

“While the United States previously imposed sanctions on (Chinese) entities providing critical inputs to Russia’s military-industrial base, these are the first U.S. sanctions imposed on (Chinese) entities directly developing and producing complete weapons systems in partnership with Russian firms.”

The statement accused Xiamen Limbach Aircraft Engine Co., based in the coastal city of Xiamen, of producing drone engines for the Garpiya series.

When reached by phone by CNN Friday, a sales representative for the company denied it produced engines for Garpiya drones nor exported its products to Russia.

The US accused the other sanctioned Chinese company, Redlepus Vector Industry Shenzhen Co., of working with a Russian defense firm to facilitate the shipment of the drones to Russia.

The Treasury Department said Redlepus had also sent shipments to Russia of components that can be used in drones, including aircraft engines, parts of automatic data processing machines and electrical components through Russian defense firm TSK Vektor.

Redlepus hung up the phone when CNN called for comment.

The US also imposed punitive measures on the owner of TSK Vektor, a Russian national, and another company he owns. The US previously sanctioned TSK Vektor last December for helping Russia to acquire attack drones.

“We have seen for some time Chinese companies providing components to Russian companies that Russian companies then use to turn into machinery, weapons, other components that Russia could use in its war,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters Thursday.

“This was the first time we actually saw a Chinese company manufacturing a weapon itself that then was used on the battlefield by Russia.”

Beijing has previously denied supplying weaponry to Russia and maintains it keeps strict controls on such goods.

The Chinese embassy in Washington denied the latest accusations and said China was handling the export of military products responsibly, according to Reuters.

“The U.S. makes false accusations against China’s normal trade with Russia, just as it continues to pour unprecedented military aid into Ukraine,” embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu said in a statement, according to Reuters. “This is (the) typical double standard, and extremely hypocritical and irresponsible.”

China’s support for Russia as the Kremlin wages war in Ukraine has become a key point of tension between Washington and Beijing as they seek to stabilize rocky relations.

Beijing has claimed neutrality in the more than two-and-a-half-year long conflict even as it has deepened political, economic and military ties with Moscow. China has become Russia’s top trade partner, offering a crucial lifeline to its heavily sanctioned economy, and the two nuclear-armed neighbors have ramped up joint military exercises in recent months.

In the latest sign of their deepening alignment, Chinese and Russian defense officials vowed to strengthen their cooperation during meetings in Beijing last week.

The two countries have “common views, a common assessment of the situation, and a common understanding of what we need to do together,” defense chief Andrey Belousov told Zhang Youxia, vice chairman of China’s Central Military Commission, according to Russian state-run news agency Tass.

CNN’s Joyce Jiang contributed reporting.