Russia has learned to produce new weapons faster than ever before in modern history. This became possible, in particular, thanks to the support of China.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that over the past year Russia has learned to produce new weapons like this quickly, like I’ve never done this before.
He said this in a conversation with the President of the World Economic Forum Berge Brende in Saudi Arabia.
The Secretary of State was having a conversation following his visit to China, during which he discussed the war in Ukraine with senior Chinese officials.
“If you look at what Russia has done in the past year in terms of producing ammunition, missiles, tanks and armored vehicles, you will see that it has been producing them faster than at any time in modern history, particularly during the Cold War, like the Soviet Union,” Blinken said.
He noted that 70% of machine tools and 90% of microelectronics come to Russia from China.
“Now these are dual-use items, but we know very clearly where so many of them are going… This allows Russia to continue its aggression against Ukraine, therefore it continues the war that China says it would like to end the end,” said the US Secretary of State.
China's support, according to Blinken, allows Russia to rebuild a defense industrial base that Europe, deeply concerned, will antagonize once Ukraine is dealt with.
At the same time, it is fair to say, Blinken emphasized, that China did not directly supply Russia with weapons, missiles and ammunition, as Iran and North Korea did.
Recall that The Washington Post previously wrote that Russia has increased military production, replenishing stocks of weapons and ammunition, and will likely be able to maintain its offensive against Ukraine for at least the next two years.
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