US ambassador: China believes it’s waging a proxy struggle via Russia

US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker has attacked China for supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and has accused Beijing of waging a “proxy war” to distract the West. “China thinks they’re fighting a proxy war through Russia,” the diplomat told Fox Business on July 22. “They want to keep the US and our allies occupied with this war, so that we cannot focus on our other strategic challenges.”

Ambassador Whitaker’s feedback got here amid rising worldwide scrutiny of China’s function within the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In latest months, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused China of straight offering Russia with weapons. Beijing has denied the claims. More not too long ago, Reuters has reported that Chinese-made engines are being covertly shipped by way of entrance firms to a state-owned drone producer in Russia and labelled as “industrial refrigeration units” to keep away from detection.

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Recent stories of growing Chinese support for the Russian struggle effort are fuelling renewed hypothesis over what Beijing is hoping to realize in Ukraine. While Chinese officers reject accusations that their nation is arming Russia as “groundless” and demand that their focus stays on selling peace talks, feedback attributed to Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in early July supply a window into Beijing’s priorities. According to EU officers, China’s high diplomat told his European counterpart, Kaja Kallas, that Beijing just isn’t keen to simply accept a Russian defeat in Ukraine as this might permit the United States to show its full consideration to China.

Wang Yi’s extensively reported assertion definitely suits with Beijing’s official stance towards the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Although China claims to need peace, it has constantly demonstrated its diplomatic and financial assist for Moscow amid deepening ties with the Kremlin. On the eve of the invasion, China and Russia declared a “no limits” partnership. China’s President Xi Jinping has since met along with his Russian counterpart on multiple occasions to reaffirm this partnership. Chinese officers have additionally often echoed Russian justifications for the invasion.

Economic ties between the 2 international locations have strengthened considerably since 2022 amid a rupture in Russian enterprise hyperlinks with the West. Bilateral commerce has soared to record highs, with China serving as a key various vacation spot for Russian vitality exports whereas additionally allegedly proving instrumental in serving to Moscow bypass Western sanctions. According to a May 2025 report by the German Foreign Ministry, China is believed to be answerable for round 80 p.c of Russian sanctions avoidance.

This rising partnership makes good sense. China and Russia share a transparent geopolitical alignment in opposition to the present US-led world order, with each Xi and Putin overtly talking concerning the want for a brand new multipolar period in worldwide relations. Russia additionally seems to have had appreciable success in convincing China that the invasion of Ukraine is a key step towards reaching this aim. Likewise, Beijing has good cause to worry a Russian defeat in Ukraine, which might considerably strengthen the West whereas releasing up the United States to show its consideration to Asia.

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It is obvious that China is now Russia’s most necessary worldwide accomplice, however there are some indications of mistrust between the 2 authoritarian allies. Many in Moscow are cautious of Russia’s rising dependence on Beijing amid suspicions relating to China’s long-term ambitions towards their nation. According to a New York Times report printed in June 2025, some parts inside Russia’s intensive intelligence group overtly confer with the Chinese as “the enemy” and imagine efforts are already underway to put the groundwork for future claims to Russian territory.

In China, in the meantime, there may be more likely to be a level of uneasiness concerning the quickly deepening army cooperation between Russia and North Korea. Since 2022, Pyongyang has emerged as a key supplier of artillery shells, ballistic missiles, and different munitions to the Russian military. More not too long ago, North Korea has begun offering 1000’s of fight troops for Russia’s struggle towards Ukraine, together with giant numbers of staff for military-related development and manufacturing facility roles.

Growing cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang might undermine Beijing’s place by diluting China’s potential to affect the Kremlin. At the identical time, the massive quantities of cash and elevated entry to superior Russian army applied sciences that North Korea is receiving in return for its assist might additionally rework the fragile geopolitical steadiness in East Asia.

There is little cause to doubt latest EU claims that China is dedicated to stopping a Russian defeat in Ukraine. However, the much-hyped partnership between Moscow and Beijing could also be extra marriage of comfort than ideological alliance. Both sides share a typical curiosity in weakening the West, however they may not be as trusting of one another as their public statements would recommend.

Some in Russia are actually overtly alarmed by their nation’s growing reliance on China and have little religion in Beijing’s good intentions. China virtually definitely doesn’t need Russia to lose the struggle in Ukraine, however Beijing is unlikely to welcome the thought of an historic Russian victory that might strengthen Moscow and weaken the present dominant Chinese place throughout future negotiations with the Kremlin. Instead, China’s desire could also be for the indefinite continuation of a struggle that will increase its leverage over Russia whereas maintaining the West absolutely occupied and unable to show its consideration to Asia.

Mykola Bielieskov is a analysis fellow on the National Institute for Strategic Studies and a senior analyst at Ukrainian NGO “Come Back Alive.” The views expressed on this article are the creator’s private place and don’t replicate the opinions or views of NISS or Come Back Alive.

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The views expressed in UkraineAlert are solely these of the authors and don’t essentially replicate the views of the Atlantic Council, its workers, or its supporters.

The Eurasia Center’s mission is to reinforce transatlantic cooperation in selling stability, democratic values and prosperity in Eurasia, from Eastern Europe and Turkey within the West to the Caucasus, Russia and Central Asia within the East.

Image: Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping watch Russian service members marching previous throughout a flower-laying ceremony on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Victory Day, marking the eightieth anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, in central Moscow, Russia. May 9, 2025. (REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina)