China supplies Russia with missile technology to strike Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed that the strikes launched by Moscow against energy facilities in Ukraine, which caused widespread power outages, come in the context of working to achieve the Kremlin’s goal of “disarming” Kiev. Putin’s statements came hours after Russia launched a massive attack with missiles and drones on Ukraine, targeting energy facilities throughout it. Putin said: “We assume that through this method, we are influencing the military-industrial sector of Ukraine,” while receiving in the Kremlin his ally, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. The Russian President added that the strikes also come within the framework of a response to Ukraine targeting Russian energy facilities with a series of strikes recently. He explained: “We recently saw a series of strikes on our energy sites, and we were forced to respond,” stressing that Moscow avoided targeting Ukrainian energy facilities during the winter, “because we did not want to deprive social centers, hospitals…etc., of electricity.” “. In the winter of 2022-2023, Russia launched intensive strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities, depriving millions of electricity and heating for long periods. However, the number of these strikes decreased last winter, until Moscow resumed targeting Ukrainian energy facilities as of March. On Thursday, Russia launched massive attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities, which led to the destruction of a power station in the Kiev region.
On the other hand, the United States warned that it would hold China responsible if Russia made gains in Ukraine, after Beijing renewed its pledges to cooperate with Moscow during a visit by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Kurt Campbell, US Deputy Secretary of State responsible for redrawing US policies towards Asia, said that for the United States, maintaining peace and stability in Europe is “our most important mission historically.” As Moscow steps up its attack on Ukraine amid an impasse in the US Congress over whether to approve more military aid to Ukraine, Campbell warned that Russian gains on the ground could “change the balance of power in Europe in ways that are frankly unacceptable.” “We have told China directly that if this continues it will have an impact on the relationship between the United States and China,” he said. “We will not sit back and say everything is fine.” He told the National Committee on US-China Relations, an educational organization concerned with promoting understanding between Washington and Beijing, that they would view this not only as Russian activities, but as “a combined set of activities supported by China and also North Korea. This is contrary to our interests.” Campbell was responding to a question about Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s visit to China on Tuesday, where President Xi Jinping informed him of Beijing’s readiness to enhance coordination. “We have told China directly that if this continues it will have an impact on the relationship between the United States and China,” he said. “We will not sit back and say everything is fine.” He told the National Committee on US-China Relations, an educational organization concerned with promoting understanding between Washington and Beijing, that they would view this not only as Russian activities, but as “a combined set of activities supported by China and also North Korea. This is contrary to our interests.” Campbell was responding to a question about the visit of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to China, on Tuesday, where President Xi Jinping informed him of Beijing’s readiness to enhance coordination. The Pentagon is demanding huge sums of money to support the “strategic forces.” Campbell narrated that President Joe Biden’s administration had previously informed Chinese officials of intelligence information indicating Russian President Vladimir Putin intends to invade Ukraine in February 2022. “I’m not sure they completely believed us, or maybe they thought it would be something smaller and not an all-out move and push,” Campbell said. Campbell added that China was concerned to see Russia’s early setbacks and worked to rebuild Moscow’s “variety of capabilities.” He continued: “At first, this was a defensive effort. They did not want to see a change in the regime.”