Britain accuses China of sending lethal aid to Russia for use in Ukraine
On Wednesday, British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps accused China of sending lethal aid to Russia for use in its war against Ukraine.
Speaking at a conference in London, he said, “Today I can reveal that we have evidence of cooperation of Russia and China in the field of combat equipment for use in Ukraine”.
Shapps warned that NATO needed to wake up and boost its defense spending.
“US and British defense intelligence can reveal that lethal aid is now flowing from China to Russia and to Ukraine”.
“It’s time for the world to wake up… That means translating this moment into concrete plans and capabilities, and that starts laying the groundwork for increased spending on our collective deterrence at the coalition level”.
The strategic partnership between China and Russia has grown since the invasion of Ukraine, but Beijing has rejected Western claims that its helping Moscow in its war effort.
China has also provided an important lifeline to Russia’s sanctions-ridden economy, with trade booming since the invasion to reach $240 billion in 2023, according to Chinese customs figures.
On the other hand, US national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, objected some of Shapps’ comments.
Sullivan said the possibility of China “providing weapons directly, and lethal assistance to Russia was a concern earlier, but we haven’t seen that yet”.
He added that the United States has “concerns about what China is doing to feed the Russian war machine, not directly provide weapons”.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin made a strong offer of unity during their meeting in Beijing earlier this month.
Xi said in a statement after his talks with Putin that the two sides agreed on the need for a political solution to the war.
