Washington:

China is helping Russia with its biggest military expansion since the Soviet era, U.S. officials said on Friday, raising public pressure amid growing concerns over Ukraine.

US officials are hoping the intelligence release will encourage European allies to pressure China, as Chancellor Olaf Schulz visits Beijing this weekend and Group of Seven foreign ministers visit Italy next week. are meeting

Unveiling the U.S. findings, officials said China is helping Russia in a number of areas, including joint production of drones, space capabilities and exports of machine tools for ballistic missile production.

A senior US official told reporters on condition of anonymity that China has been a key factor in reviving Russia’s defense industrial base “which otherwise suffered a significant setback” since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“Russia is embarking on its most ambitious defense expansion since the Soviet era and is on a much faster timeline than we thought early in the conflict,” the official said.

“We believe that one of the most game-changing measures available to us right now to support Ukraine is to persuade the PRC to stop helping Russia rebuild its military-industrial base. Stop,” the official said, referring to the People’s Republic of China.

“Russia will struggle to sustain its war effort without PRC input,” he said.

China provided more than 70 percent of the $900 million worth of machine tools — likely used to make ballistic missiles — that Russia imported in the last quarter of 2023, U.S. officials said.

U.S. officials also said that 90 percent of Russia’s imports of microelectronics — used to build missiles, tanks and airplanes — came from China last year.

– China walks the fine line –

The U.S. has repeatedly warned China against supporting Russia, and both Chinese and U.S. officials say Beijing has stopped supplying arms directly to Russia, which has turned to North Korea and North Korea to replenish arms supplies. Heavy sanctions have been imposed on Iran.

U.S. officials believe China, anxious after initial failures by its Russian allies on the battlefield, has instead focused on sending material that appears to have non-military uses.

President Joe Biden’s administration is hoping that European powers can make a difference in placating China, which is facing economic difficulties and is sensitive to trade pressures.

Foreign Minister Antony Blanken is expected to take issue with China’s relationship with Russia as he meets top diplomats from other industrialized democracies at the G7 talks in Capri, Italy.

Blanken is also planning a trip to China in the coming weeks to coincide with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s visit.

The administration hopes that such talks, including a recent phone call between Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, can help ease tensions between the world’s two largest economies, but U.S. officials have stressed that Will still stress concerns.

Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said this week that Europe’s stability has historically been a top US interest and that he would hold China accountable if Russia took advantage.

Ukraine has suffered its first battlefield setback in months as its forces ration ammunition, with the US unable to authorize new support due to gridlock in the Republican-led House of Representatives.

(Other than the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)