This is a statement from the United Kingdom that will not please Xi Jinping at all. According to British Defense Minister Grant Shapps, China is currently providing “lethal aid” to Russia for use in its war against Ukraine.
“We have evidence that Russia and China are working together to develop combat equipment for use in Ukraine,” he said in a speech at the London Defense Conference on Wednesday.
Grant Shapps wants NATO to “wake up”
According to the minister, “American and British defense intelligence services are able to reveal that lethal aid is currently being transported from China to Russia and Ukraine.” He therefore hoped that NATO would “wake up” and increase defense spending across the alliance.
Grant Shapps further asserted that democratic states should “loudly defend” the freedoms that depend on the international order, meaning that “we need more allies and partners” around the world. “It’s time for the world to wake up. And that means translating this moment into concrete plans and capabilities. And that starts by laying the groundwork for an alliance-wide increase in spending on our collective deterrent,” he argued.
The strategic partnership between China and Russia has only strengthened since the invasion of Ukraine, but Beijing has refuted Western claims that it is aiding Moscow’s war effort. China has notably offered a real lifeline to Russia’s economy, with trade booming since the invasion and which will reach $240 billion in 2023, according to Chinese customs figures.
The United States is delaying
US President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, on the other hand, appeared to object to some of Grant Shapps’ comments. He assured that the possibility that China could “directly provide weapons – lethal assistance – to Russia” had been a concern in the past, but that “we have not seen anything like that to date”. According to him, the United States is “concerned about what China is doing to fuel the Russian war machine, not by supplying weapons directly, but by making contributions to Russia’s defense industry.”
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin displayed great unity during a meeting in Beijing earlier this month. Xi Jinping notably declared, following the talks he had with his counterpart, that the two parties agreed on the need for a “political solution” to resolve the conflict.