Ukraine denies selling illegal missiles to China, Iran

Moscow, July 1: Ukraine has denied Russian accusations of illegally selling 12 X-55 cruise missiles to China and Iran.

''Ukraine rejects any accusations of allegedly delivering or illegally exporting X-55 missiles to other countries,'' the spokesman for Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Vasiliy Filipchuk said last night.

''These missiles were only delivered to the Russian Federation from Ukraine legally,'' RIA Novosti news agency quoted Mr Folipchuk as saying.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov had yesterday said that Ukrainian company Progress had supplied six Soviet Kh-55 Granat missiles (NATO reporting name AS-15 Kent) with nuclear capacity to China and another six missiles to Iran. The authorities had been informed and an investigation started, he added.

''This is a gross violation of the control regime over missile technologies,'' Mr Ivanov said.

He said it was the sole violation of the non-proliferation regime in the post-Soviet Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

Mr Filipchuk said Ukraine had not violated the missile technology control regime and proposed that the sides discuss Russia's concerns bilaterally in compliance with the international procedures.

UNI