“We have evidence that Russia and China are working together” to build military “equipment intended to be used in Ukraine,” British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said during an event in London.
China is supplying Russia with “lethal aid” to use in its war in Ukraine, Britain’s Defense Secretary Grant Shapps alleged on Wednesday.
“We have evidence that Russia and China are cooperating” in building military “equipment intended to be used in Ukraine,” the minister said during an event in London.
“US and British military intelligence are able to reveal that lethal aid is currently being delivered from China to Russia” for use “in Ukraine,” he insisted.
In Mr. Sapps’ view, it is time for NATO to “wake up” and increase defense spending on an alliance scale.
He stressed that “democratic states” must “vigorously defend” the freedoms that depend on the international order, which means that “we need more allies and partners” around the world.
“It’s time for the world to wake up. And this means that this moment must be translated into solid plans and possibilities. And that starts with laying the groundwork for increasing, on an alliance scale, spending dedicated to our collective deterrent power,” he added.
China and Russia’s strategic alliance has strengthened since the Russian military invaded Ukraine, but Beijing strongly denies Western accusations that it provides military aid to Moscow.
China, however, has offered a lifeline to Russia’s economy, with bilateral trade soaring after the invasion to reach $240 billion in 2023, according to Chinese customs figures.
The US president’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, appeared to disagree with some of Mr Sapps’ comments.
He asserted that the possibility of China “supplying weapons — lethal aid — directly to Russia” had been a concern of Washington in the past, but “we haven’t seen anything like that so far.”
The US is more “concerned about what China is doing to fuel the Russian war machine, not by supplying weapons directly, but by contributions to Russia’s defense industry,” he explained.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin showed unity when they met in Beijing earlier this month.
Mr Xi said after talks with Mr Putin during the visit that the two sides agreed on the need to find a “political solution” to end the armed conflict.
Source :Skai
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