The UK defense minister has stated that China is actively engaged in providing deadly assistance to Russia

Grant Shapps, the British defence minister, alleged on Wednesday that China has either already provided or is in the process of giving Russia with deadly assistance to be deployed in its conflict with Ukraine.

Since Russia initiated a comprehensive assault in 2022, Western nations have supplied Ukraine with substantial amounts of weaponry and assistance, totaling billions of dollars. Britain is making its first accusation that China is actively supplying weaponry to Russia for deployment in Ukraine.

During a seminar in London, Shapps stated that both U.S. and British defense intelligence have evidence indicating that “lethal aid is currently, or will soon be, being transferred from China to Russia and then into Ukraine. I believe this to be a noteworthy development.”

Shapps failed to present any substantiating proof for his claim. However, he stated that there has been a substantial 64% surge in trade between the countries since the beginning of the Ukraine conflict, and they are mutually supporting each other.

“We should be concerned about that because in the initial stages of this war, China aimed to position itself as a moderating force on Russian President Vladimir Putin,” he continued.

The Chinese embassy in London did not promptly reply to a request for comment regarding Shapps’ statements.

Last month, senior U.S. officials revealed that China is supporting Russia’s military operations in Ukraine by supplying Moscow with drone and missile technologies, satellite imagery, and machine tools.

Last month, the Chinese embassy in the U.S. explicitly said that Beijing has not supplied any weapons and is not a participant in the Ukraine issue.

Earlier this month, Putin made a visit to China, during which he and Chinese President Xi Jinping committed to a “new era” of collaboration that expressed their opposition to the United States on various security matters and a similar perspective on topics such as Taiwan and Ukraine.

Prior to Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia and China declared an unrestricted alliance. However, Beijing refrained from supplying tangible military equipment and ammunition to support Russia’s war campaign.

Shapps asserted that Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea have gained confidence due to what he referred to as 25 years of “western timidity” in dealing with domestic repression and international aggression.

He emphasized the need for global awareness and urged all NATO countries to allocate 2.5% of their gross domestic product towards defense expenditures.