China supplies Russia's war machine, receives military tech in exchange, US says

China is supplying Russia with materials that directly boost Russia's war machine, and in return is receiving military technology support from Russia, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell told journalists on Sept. 10.

China has positioned itself as neutral in the ongoing war but has deepened economic ties with Russia and become Moscow's leading source of dual-use goods, feeding the Russian defense industry.

China is making a "very substantial effort" to help "sustain, build, and diversify various elements of the Russian war machine," Campbell said, as quoted by Politico.

According to the U.S., Beijing and Moscow are making significant efforts to "both hide and protect certain elements of this worrisome collaboration."

The latest materials China has supplied Russia "are not dual-use capabilities," Campbell said. "These are basically being applied directly to the Russian war machine."

The U.S. is also concerned by a "number of military arenas" where Russia appears to be providing China with greater support, such as submarine operations, aeronautical design, and missile capabilities, Campbell said.

Putin delays new mobilization, despite Kursk incursion exposing troop shortages

Amid speculation that the Kremlin is considering a new mobilization of conscripts, some potential draftees say they are not enthusiastic about defending Russian territory just over a month after the Ukrainian incursion into Kursk Oblast. “I won’t go (to the front). I swore an oath to the Constituti…

The Kyiv IndependentOleg Sukhov

A growing collaboration between China and Russia in terms of strengthening military technologies could pose a danger to India, Australia, Japan, and South Korea, as well as the U.S., Campbell said.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also singled out China during a press conference with his British counterpart David Lammy on Sept. 10, following the news that Russia had received shipments of Iranian ballistic missiles.

"Anyone who is providing assistance to Russia, whether it is direct assistance like Iran or North Korea, whether it is assistance to their defense industrial base, like China, is perpetuating the war," Blinken said.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in July that alliance members agree that China is a "decisive enabler" of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Beijing described the statement as "provocative" and claimed to have never provided lethal weapons.

Chinese banks curb Russian transactions as US sanctions bite

Chinese banks are shutting down transactions with Russia over worries about losing access to the U.S. dollar and being cut off from the international financial markets, experts told the Kyiv Independent. The U.S. issued an executive order in December 2023 warning that it would sanction any foreign…

The Kyiv IndependentDominic Culverwell