China will impede vital US strategy to stop Ukraine-Russia conflict: Former

Any economic sanctions NATO imposes against Russia will have minimal impact since China would provide relief in an effort to embarrass the U.S., a former defense official told Fox News Digital. 

Diplomatic discussions stalled this week after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken provided a handwritten response to Russian demands. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Thursday that the response offered “little ground for optimism” but acknowledged “prospects for continuing dialogue.” 

The U.S. has threatened to hit Russia with sanctions – both on the state itself and against individuals, including President Vladimir Putin – should it proceed to invade Ukraine. 

Robert Wilkie, the secretary of Veterans Affairs, holds a briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S. November 8, 2019. 

But Robert L. Wilkie, Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness during the Trump administration, said that any such economic punishments would not provide the kind of impact American officials believe it will due to Russia’s strong bond with China. 

“A lot of the talk about economic sanctions is really a pie in the sky because China is now Russia’s banker,” Wilkie argued. “Xi Jinping will back Putin if sanctions from the West come.”

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“That’s a safety net he probably didn’t have 10, 15 years ago, and China probably wasn’t capable of buttressing the Russian state as it is now,” he added. 

U.S. sanctions on Russia – which might include cutting off Moscow’s access to SWIFT and related world banking funds – might simply push Russia to instead increase sales of oil and gas to China: Russia in 2020 accounted for 15.5% of China’s imported crude oil, according to Worlds Top Exports. That currently makes Russia the second-biggest oil and gas exporter to China.

Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, June 5, 2019. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina/Pool

“[China] would start buying a lot more energy from Russia,” Wilkie explained. “If we went to move on the SWIFT loan system that gives Russia access to western capital, China would pick up the slack with that.”

“Even if the Germans were to do an about-face on the Nord Stream 2, China would pick up the slack – they need the energy as much if not more than Europe does. That’s how I would see that playing out,” he said. 

Xi just this week said that China’s ambitions of hitting low-carbon goals should not come at the expense of “normal life,” claiming that such energy cuts might risk food and other everyday securities. Xi told party leaders late on Monday that China needed to “overcome the notion of rapid success,” The Guardian reported. 

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“We must stick to the overall planning and ensure energy security, industrial supply chain security and food security at the same time as cutting carbon emissions,” Xi said, indicating the reliance on gas and oil will not go away – providing Russia its much-needed backdoor. 

The dynamic between Russia and China has…