Cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/11328562
The British Secretary of State for Defense, Grant Shapps, warned that Moscow was “prepared for a war of attrition no matter how many tens of thousands of its own citizens it loses” before warning that a Russian victory would endanger Europe and send the wrong message to Beijing.
“There’s no world in which Putin can be allowed to win,” Shapps said. “Not only would it embolden him, putting our other Eastern European allies in Russia’s crosshairs, but it would also signal to China that everything is up for grabs.”
That’s probably true but what a depressing takeaway.
🤖 I’m a bot that provides automatic summaries for articles:
Click here to see the summary
Allowing Russian President Vladimir Putin to defeat Ukraine would tell China that the rest of the world is “up for grabs,” according to British Secretary of State for Defense Grant Shapps.
In an opinion article published by Politico on Wednesday, Shapps argued that 2024 was “a pivotal crossroads” for the Russia-Ukraine war that could “decide the fate of Ukraine’s vibrant democracy.”
Beijing has also recently been asserting its claim of sovereignty over the Taiwan Strait and most of the rest of the South China Sea, in opposition to international maritime law and nearly every other country in the world.
Earlier this month, Xi reportedly praised his “good friend” Putin in a New Year’s message, celebrating that “China-Russia relations have maintained healthy and stable development and moved steadily in the right direction” despite “a turbulent regional and international situation.”
Shapps’ warning about the potential encouragement China could receive from a Russian victory came after he pledged that the U.K. was in it “for the long haul” in providing aid to Ukraine.
Pentagon officials announced this week that they are no longer able to send Ukraine weapons and equipment from the U.S. stockpile due to the impasse, with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin pleading for allies to “dig deep” in the absence of U.S. aid.
Saved 66% of original text.