Der Spiegel: Chinese company discusses selling Shaheed-like drones to Russia

Shafaq News/ Der Spiegel reported on Thursday that Moscow is talking with a Chinese manufacturer about buying drones with a delivery date of April.

According to the German magazine, the Chinese drone manufacturer Xian Bingo Intelligent Aviation Technology had announced it was prepared to make 100 prototypes of its ZT-180 drone, which could carry a 35-50kg warhead.

The drone is similar to Iran's Shaheed-136, Der Spiegel said, adding that Bingo had plans to make 100 aircraft within a month.

It added that there had been earlier plans for a company controlled by the Chinese army to send Russia spare parts for its SU-27 warplane.

The US, Germany, and other Western countries recently expressed concerns over the Chinese help for Moscow. They were warning Bejing that selling weapons to Russia would have severe consequences.

"While there are indications that China may be considering the provision of lethal capabilities to Russia, we have not seen them make that decision; we have not seen them move in that direction… So China should not want to become tangibly involved in that," White House spokesman John Kirby told reporters in a briefing.