In his opinion, the maximum that Beijing is capable of is to send so-called non-lethal aid to Russia. For example, body armor or helmets.
China will not dare to help Russia with lethal weapons because of its great economic interest with the United States.
This opinion was expressed by Russian opposition political scientist and publicist Andrey Piontkovsky in an interview with UNIAN.
“China has taken advantage of the fact that Russia should now sell oil and gas cheaper, but is not going to fall into secondary sanctions. It sends Russia the so-called non-lethal assistance at most – bulletproof vests, helmets. Well, let them send helmets. He will never dare to provide military assistance , because he has a huge economic interest with the United States,” the expert is sure.
According to him, Beijing has played a positive role in the issue of nuclear weapons.
“The decisive role, of course, was played by the United States, they simply explained to Putin very clearly what would happen to him if he used nuclear weapons – he would simply be killed, not to mention the fact that his entire grouping in Ukraine would be destroyed by the fire influence of NATO. In Russia, they are now shouting that they are “at war with all of NATO,” but they have no idea what they are talking about,” says Piontkovsky.
The expert noted that if 26 HIMARS completely changed the strategic situation at the front and allowed Ukraine to seize the initiative, then, for example, hundreds of Tomahawk long-range cruise missiles and dozens of aircraft in service with NATO will quickly defeat Russia. In his opinion, the Russian Federation will not fight even a day with the entire North Atlantic Alliance.
Piontkovsky added that even Serbia, a traditional ally of Moscow, was forced to retreat from this position.
“They (Serbia) were warned very seriously by the European Union. And now they are already saying:” We will never recognize Crimea and Donbass as part of Russia.” And they are even thinking about sanctions,” he summed up.
Earlier, there was information that the Russian Federation sends cargo planes to China 10 times a week. The Russians are allegedly taking “military aid – equipment, bulletproof vests, helmets, clothing, etc.”
In a conversation with the President of the European Council Charles Michel, Xi Jinping assured that China does not supply weapons to Russia.
Military expert Oleg Zhdanov believes that China will use the Russian Federation as a bargaining chip in bidding with the United States. In his opinion, negotiations on the division of powers between such states as China and the United States are now ongoing. Therefore, by providing assistance to Moscow, Beijing is raising the stakes.
According to former US Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs Wess Mitchell, Putin has become a “huge problem” for Xi Jinping.
