The Chinese government on Wednesday pushed back on a U.S. probe of whether China is helping its neighbor Russia dodge a U.S. ban on Russian uranium imports saying Beijing has always opposed "illegal unilateral sanctions".

Washington fears Russia is sending large quantities of enriched uranium to China in an effort to evade sanctions imposed after its invasion of Ukraine.

The United States has observed a sharp increase in enriched uranium imports from China since the end of 2023. US officials suspect that China helps Russia circumvent sanctions, according to Reuters. As Reuters reports,

President Joe Biden's administration is probing a surge in imports of enriched uranium from China since late 2023 amid concerns the shipments are helping Moscow sidestep a U.S. ban on imports of the power plant fuel from Russia,