British intelligence has evidence that Russia and China are working together on combat equipment to be used in Ukraine, Grant Shapps has revealed.
The Defence Secretary said that the two countries were “collaborating” on lethal aid for Moscow to deploy in its war against Kyiv.
He told a defence conference in London on Wednesday: “An axis of authoritarian states led by Russia, China, Iran and North Korea have escalated and fuelled conflicts and tensions.
“They have increasingly been working together,” he said.
“And today I can reveal that we have evidence that Russia and China are collaborating on combat equipment for use in Ukraine.”
He said that the surge in trade between the two nations since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine, and Vladimir Putin’s recent state visit to Beijing, showed that the countries were “covering each other’s back”.
World needs to ‘wake up’
China’s embassy in the US said in April that it had not provided any weaponry to Russia, adding that it is “not a producer of or party involved in the Ukraine crisis”.
Mr Shapps said in his speech that the world needed to “wake up” to the growing threats to the West.
He later added that “lethal aid is now, or will be, flowing from China to Russia and into Ukraine. I think it is a significant development”.
The Defence Secretary did not provide further evidence to support his assertion.
Mr Shapps added that he would make the “unambiguous case” for all Nato countries to boost their defence expenditure to 2.5 per cent at the bloc’s summit in Washington DC in July.
The current Nato standard is 2 per cent, but only 11 of the alliances 32 members reached that target last year.
However, in April the UK committed to boosting its defence spending to 2.5 per cent by 2030.
‘Emboldened by Western timidity’
Mr Shapps said: “Putin and his autocratic allies in Beijing, Pyongyang and Tehran have been emboldened by 25 years of Western timidity towards repression at home and aggression abroad.
“It’s time for the world to wake up. And that means translating this moment into concrete plans and capabilities.
“And that starts with laying the foundations for an alliance-wide increase and spending on our collective deterrence.”
The Chinese embassy in London did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.
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