Taiwanʼs President offers Ukraine negotiations on sanctions violation. Zelensky previously said Russia gets missile components from Island

Taiwanese President Lai Tsing-de offered Ukraine talks to end sanctions violations on January 23. The day before, in a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, President Volodymyr Zelensky mentioned the island as a source of illegal missile components.

Reuters writes about this.

Speaking in Davos on Thursday, Zelensky said that Russia receives critical components for its missiles not only from China:

"Itʼs not just China. Too often people cover themselves up by saying that China is helping Russia. Yes, it is helping, but itʼs not just China. Russia gets components from companies in Europe, the United States, and Taiwan.

"Now many are investing in stability around Taiwan. So that there is no war... But can Taiwanese companies stop investing electronics in the Russian war? Europe says almost nothing, America says nothing, and Putin makes missiles."

President Lai wrote in X that Taiwan has long worked with global partners to steadfastly support Ukraine through humanitarian assistance and coordinated sanctions. He remembered Taiwanese volunteers who died fighting for Ukraine against Russia.

"We clearly state: any assistance to the aggressor or violation of international embargoes and export control rules is unacceptable. We pray for the speedy restoration of peace in Ukraine."

Later, speaking to reporters, Lai said he hoped Zelensky would share any information about sanctions violations with Taiwan. He added that Taiwan was ready to tighten control over goods entering Russia through third countries and "protect Ukraine".

• Since the start of Russia’s full-scale aggression against Ukraine, the semiconductor giant Taiwan has joined Western sanctions against Russia. Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs said that no chips or machine tools had been exported to Russia since April 2024, and the government would prevent the supply of relevant components to Russia.
• In November 2025, Taiwan said it was reviewing export controls to comply with the Wassenaar Arrangement, an international agreement aimed at preventing the proliferation of weapons.

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