Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia and China of trying to sabotage his upcoming global peace summit in Switzerland.
He said Russia was trying to dissuade other countries from participating in the event, and China was trying to do the same.
Speaking at the Asian Security Forum, he also said that “some parts of Russian weapons” come from China.
China says it takes no side in the war in Ukraine, a stance that has been increasingly questioned, especially by the United States.
Beijing has been accused of aiding Moscow by supplying it with weapons parts. It is also seen as supporting the Russian economy and mitigating the impact of Western sanctions by buying large amounts of oil and natural gas.
Mr Zelensky made a surprise appearance at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, which was attended by defense ministers from around the world, including US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun.
The purpose of this visit is to gain support from Asian countries. As well as meeting with regional leaders, he urged delegates to attend a summit scheduled for later June.
Zelensky said it would focus on achieving nuclear security, food security and the release of prisoners of war and Ukrainian children held by Russia.
He said that so far, 106 countries have stated that they will send high-level representatives or leaders to participate in the summit.
Russia was not invited and China did not participate.
The BBC understands that no formal invitation was sent to Russia because Moscow told Switzerland early on that it did not want to participate.
Zelensky claimed that Russia was trying to disrupt the summit by blocking agricultural products, chemical products and energy to force countries not to attend.
He added that certain countries were assisting this “diplomatic sabotage”.
He later singled out China and said it was “working on behalf of countries that are not participating in the peace summit,” contrary to the United States’ pledge to send high-level representatives and encourage other countries to attend the peace summit.
China’s Foreign Ministry has said the meeting “should be recognized by Russia and Ukraine” and participate on an equal footing. “Otherwise, it will be difficult for the meeting to play a substantive role in restoring peace,” a spokesman said on Friday.
Zelensky also said Chinese leader Xi Jinping had earlier promised him that they would “stand by in this war and not provide weapons support to Russia.”
But he added that according to multiple intelligence agencies, “part of the Russian weapons” now come from China. He called on China to maintain its “consistent” stance.
The United States says China is helping Russia produce more ammunition, armored vehicles and missiles. It is estimated that about 70% of machine tools and 90% of microelectronic products imported into Russia come from China.
Earlier on Sunday, Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun said they were not supplying weapons to either side of the conflict in Ukraine.
He also said they exercise “strict controls” on the export of dual-use technology, which can be used for both civilian and military purposes.
“We have never done anything to fan the flames. We stand firmly on the side of peace and dialogue,” he said in his speech.
Zelensky said he did not meet Mr Dong during the conversation, but he did meet Mr Austin. Zelensky said the two discussed the U.S. decision to allow Ukraine to use U.S. weapons on Russian soil.
This decision comes with certain limitations. Asked if he wanted the restrictions to be lifted, he expressed gratitude to the United States for allowing Ukraine to use the HIMARS rocket system on its border in the heavily fought Kharkiv region.
“Is this enough? No,” he said, adding that Russia kept firing at certain airports “knowing that Ukraine would not fire back.”
The United States joins other Western countries such as France in allowing Ukraine greater leeway in using Western-supplied weapons. Russia warned that the move would have “serious consequences”.
This weekend marks Zelensky’s second trip to Asia since the war began. A year ago, he made a surprise appearance at the G7 leaders’ summit in Hiroshima, Japan.
