According to John Kirby, if Beijing cares about its international reputation, it will not go for arms sales to Russia, although it could potentially move in this direction.
China has not yet decided whether to supply weapons to Russia. John Kirby, coordinator of the US National Security Council for strategic communications at the White House, spoke about this in an interview with Voice of America, published on March 4.
So far, China has not provided weapons to the Russian Federation, Kirby said, but Beijing has not removed the issue from the agenda. The White House is convinced that if China takes such a step, it will hit hard on its position in the international community.
“China has a choice to make. Does it really want to side with Russian President Putin? Does it really want to help Mr Putin kill innocent Ukrainians? Because that’s what it would look like. And if China cares about its international reputation, it could suggest that he considers it not in his best interest,” Kirby said.
The Security Council coordinator said that the US sees signs that China could potentially move in the supply of weapons to Moscow.
“China has a choice to make. President Xi Jinping has a choice to make. And we urged him to make the right choice, not to make it easy for Mr. Putin to kill innocent Ukrainians,” Kirby added.
China wants to supply weapons to Russia in exchange for military technology
On March 3, the British newspaper The Economist wrote that China was dissatisfied with the Kremlin due to the fact that discussions of arms supplies were intercepted and published in the United States. Thus, the media reported that the Russians were negotiating with the Chinese company Xi’an Bingo Intelligent Aviation Technology on the purchase of 100 attack drones, and also published information about negotiations on the purchase of ammunition.
According to Western journalists, in return for the supply of drones and electronic components, China expects to receive technology from Moscow for the RD-180 rocket engine, which could potentially be present in ballistic missiles, and technology for submarines.
On March 3, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC) Oleksiy Danilov said that Russia has a great desire to involve not only China, but also other countries that it is trying to extend its influence into a military conflict. But Beijing takes a balanced and neutral position, which in this case is absolutely correct. According to him, it makes no sense for Beijing to openly take the side of Moscow, since it understands the consequences of such a step.
The Economist also wrote that the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation lost more than 9,400 pieces of equipment in the war against Ukraine, including more than 1,500 tanks. Because of this, American intelligence began to record that China is considering the supply of weapons to Moscow.
