China’s Lethal Aid to Russia Would Help ‘Extinguish Ukraine as a Nation’: Pentagon

Emergency workers clear the rubble after a Russian rocket hit a multistory building leaving many people under debris in the southeastern city of Dnipro, Ukraine, on Jan. 14, 2023. Evgeniy Maloletka/AP Photo

The Pentagon is watching closely for any signal that China’s communist regime has decided to provide Russia with lethal aid for its attempted conquest of Ukraine.

Department of Defense Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder said the Pentagon had not yet witnessed the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) follow through on provision of lethal aid to Russia, but that CCP leadership was still considering it.

“...There [are] indications that China is considering the possibility of sending lethal aid,” Ryder said during a Feb. 24 press briefing.

“We haven’t seen them provide lethal aid to Russia yet but we also have noticed that they haven’t taken it off the table.”

Such a decision, he said, would indicate that Chinese communist authorities seek to destroy Ukraine outright, and would needlessly extend the continued suffering and death of innocent Ukrainians.

“Broadly speaking, what you would be seeing is a country like China, which clearly has advanced capabilities and munitions, [and] which has publicly declared its neutrality, to now take a side and say ‘we want to be in the camp that’s looking to extinguish Ukraine as a nation,'” Ryder said.

“It would prolong this conflict. It would cause needless suffering among innocent Ukrainians.”

The Biden administration has long feared that the CCP could choose to provide lethal aid to Russia, in addition to the economic and diplomatic support it already gives the Kremlin.

Thus far the administration has maintained that the CCP has not followed through on such a contribution.

That is not to say, however, that entities within China have not contributed to the war effort.

Going back to March 2022, Ukrainian authorities claimed that Chinese drone manufacturer DJI was continuing to provide services to Russia’s military while degrading Ukraine’s drone capabilities.

The United States went on to blacklist DJI as a Chinese Military Company, saying that the company had a long history of security complaints and close ties with the regime’s military-civil fusion strategy.

On Feb. 24, when the Biden administration issued sweeping new sanctions and export controls targeting those contributing to Russia’s war of conquest, a White House fact sheet stated that it had blacklisted China-based entities that had helped to backfill Russia’s defense industry, effectively helping Moscow dodge international sanctions.

To that end, Ryder said that any lethal aid delivered to Russia would demonstrate a desire among the CCP to join a war against Ukraine which was “intended to erase their country.”

Asked whether the United States would pressure Ukraine to sue for peace in a manner similar to China, Ryder said that the nation would leave any decision to pursue a ceasefire up to Ukraine.

“[Russia] tried to eliminate Ukraine as a country,” Ryder said.

“We’re not going to tell Ukraine when to stop fighting.”