China refuses to send plane parts to Russia
China has refused to send plane parts to Russia, in a surprise move for the “iron clad” pair.
Head of the Airworthiness Maintenance Department of Rosaviatsiya, Valery Kudinov, said that airlines should negotiate purchases separately, as China has refused to supply certain components.
“Part of the fleet will be returned,” Kudinov was quoted as saying by Russian state media.
However, Russia’s federal air transport agency Rosaviatsiya later said that Kudinov was not authoirsed to make official statements on behalf of the agency.
The announcement came just hours after Italy and China’s foreign ministers agreed on joint efforts to find a diplomatic solution to the war.
Italy’s Luigi Di Maio and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi met on Thursday to discuss the Ukrainian conflict.
“I have strongly condemned Russia’s aggression and reiterated our support to the Ukrainian people,” Di Maio said in a statement.