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Russia is now China's ‘junior partner’, UK's ex-PM Liz Truss says. Then explains
Western nations must not hand Xi Jinping undue influence in shaping the conflict, Liz Truss said.
China is facilitating Russia's invasion of Ukraine despite Beijing's efforts to play peacemaker, former British prime minister Liz Truss told Newsweek. “I think it was President Xi Jinping who described it as 'a friendship without limits.' And it's increasingly clear that Russia is now the junior partner of China. And China is, in my view, the major threat that the world is facing,” Liz Truss said.
Western nations must not hand Xi Jinping undue influence in shaping the conflict, she added.
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"I think it's very real," she said. China has presented itself as a potential mediator. As Russia has been isolated by the West through sanctions, China has been expanding its Russian energy imports and exports.
"I believe that they are very much helping Russia deal with the sanctions they face," Liz Truss said, adding, "And it was no coincidence that the war in Ukraine was perpetrated immediately after the Winter Olympics ended."
"They're very much part and parcel of the same issue which we're facing," Truss added.
“You can't separate those two threats. If Putin were to be successful in Ukraine, which I don't think he will be, that would give succor to Xi's efforts in Taiwan. And again, if China is successful in their ambitions, then that would help Russia. These things are inseparable,” she said.
