Britain’s defence secretary, Grant Shapps and President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan had to disagree over some issues in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
It was after the Britain’s defence secretary said that China is sending “lethal aid” to Russia for use in its war against Ukraine,
His comments were challenged by Sullivan as both countries met at the London Defence Conference on Wednesday.
Shapps said, “Today I can reveal that we have evidence that Russia and China are collaborating on combat equipment for use in Ukraine.”
“US and British defence intelligence can reveal that lethal aid is now flying from China to Russia and into Ukraine.
“And this is new intelligence which leads me to be able to declassify and reveal this fact today. I think it’s quite significant,” he said without providing evidence to his claim.
He pointed out that there had been a 64% increase in trade between China and Russia since the start of the war, insisting both countries “are covering each other’s back”.
“It’s time for the world to wake up. And that means translating this moment to concrete plans and capabilities. And that starts with laying the foundations for an alliance-wide increase in spending on our collective deterrent,” he said.
However, the US representative, Sullivan appeared to take issue with some of Shapps’s comments.
He said the possibility that China might “provide weapons directly – lethal assistance – to Russia” had been a concern earlier, but that “we have not seen that to date”.
The US did however have a “concern about what China is doing to fuel Russia’s war machine, not giving weapons directly, but providing inputs to Russia’s defence industrial base”, he added.
