Beijing is increasingly becoming Moscow’s key economic supporter in the war against Ukraine, according to reports. Experts are offering cautious assessments of the extent of that support.
A former chief of Britain’s Royal Air Force (RAF) intelligence service told the UK Parliament’s Defence Committee this week that Beijing was “covertly” increasing its support for Moscow, The Telegraph reported.
“China has discreetly built supply lines that go to drone factories in Russia,” he told the committee.
According to the intelligence chief, public sources suggest that as much as 60 percent of Russia’s war effort is financed by China.
“That is a claim I am critical of,” said Juni Wilhelmsen, a researcher at the Norwegian Institute for International Affairs (NUPI).
NUPI researcher
“there is a flow of money going directly to Russia’s war machine, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that China is deliberately financing Russian warfare,” Wilhelmsen stated.
Henrik Stålhane Hiim, a professor at the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies, offered a more nuanced perspective. “It’s a misrepresentation to say that China is directly funding Russia’s war effort,” he said.
Hiim noted that Russia’s economy has been significantly impacted by Western sanctions following the full-scale invasion in 2022. These sanctions included restrictions on advanced technology, machine parts, and even consumer goods like iPhones, the freezing of central bank reserves, exclusion from the SWIFT system, and drastic limitations on oil and gas exports.
- Prohibition of purchasing advanced technology, machine parts, and iPhones.
- Freezing of the central bank’s foreign exchange reserves and exclusion from the Swift system.
- Drastic restrictions on oil and gas – the very lifeline of the economy.
- Confiscation of assets of top leaders and oligarchs.
The goal was clear: to cripple the Russian economy and force the Kremlin to halt the war.
Since these sanctions were imposed, China has emerged as an even more crucial pillar of the Russian economy, becoming one of the largest purchasers of Russian oil and gas.
“It’s a fact that Russia is increasingly dependent on China. At the same time, this economic relationship does not necessarily mean that China is deliberately financing Russian warfare,” Wilhelmsen said.
Professor at the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies
“It’s important to emphasize that the Chinese have not been averse to charging Russia well for their services. It has not been an act of charity,” Hiim said.
According to reports, China’s support for Russia is part of a broader plan to gain an advantage over the West. The former RAF intelligence chief alleges that China is using its support for Moscow to achieve economic benefits over Western countries.
Wilhelmsen believes that China and Russia have largely aligned in their criticism of the West, but stresses that this does not necessarily mean that China wants the war to continue.
“China is primarily concerned with making money and maintaining opportunities for trade relations and influence in as many of the post-Soviet countries as possible.”
The United States and Russia have agreed to resume military dialogue at a high level and exchange 314 prisoners, according to a statement from the US military. The agreement followed talks between US General Alexus Grynkewich, NATO’s supreme commander in Europe, and representatives from Russia and Ukraine.
On Thursday morning, US President Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff announced that the delegations had agreed to exchange 314 prisoners – the first such exchange in five months. Details of the prisoner exchange are currently unknown.
“This outcome was achieved through peace talks that have been detailed and productive. While significant work remains, steps like this demonstrate progress,” Witkoff said in a post on X.
The war is the deadliest in Europe since World War II, with hundreds of thousands killed, millions displaced, and large parts of Eastern and Southern Ukraine in ruins.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated on Wednesday that 55,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in the war.
