Nataliia Butyrska, East Asia expert and senior analyst at the New Europe Center, said this on Espreso TV.“Undoubtedly, the Russians are somewhat disappointed that China is not providing as much (military assistance – ed.) as they need, even though China has the capacity. Yes, indeed, China is gradually crossing certain boundaries. Even regarding the so-called Shaheds—now Russia has localized their production, and our intelligence, which occasionally inspects these Shaheds, finds a very large number of Chinese components. In addition, our intelligence also reports joint production and the involvement of Chinese specialists in drone manufacturing. So, as we can see, China is gradually, in some ways, crossing the lines that were primarily drawn for them by our European and American partners. In other words, the main restraining factor for China in helping Russia is, above all, the Europeans and the Americans, because China is afraid of sanctions,” she said.China would like to trade with the Europeans, who emphasize that security comes first for them, and that the war in Ukraine very seriously affects their calculations and Europe’s relations with China. So there are factors that, in some ways, restrain China, noted Nataliia Butyrska.“Therefore, for now, we cannot talk about any manpower from China. I think China will not risk that. But nevertheless, let’s not forget about the North Korean factor, nor about China’s influence on the North Koreans. And about how China has distanced itself from this involvement, because at a time when it cannot directly provide assistance itself, it is clearly supporting the involvement of North Koreans, who have nothing to lose and only gain from this war. This includes manpower. And we see the number of shells coming from North Korea, and we see an even greater expansion in the range of different types of weapons coming from North Korea. Who knows, perhaps some of it was also transferred through China. That is beyond our competence. But nevertheless, in my view, with China’s tacit support, North Korea is fighting on Russia’s side. This is an important factor,” the East Asia expert added.