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China and Russia warned that US weapons bound for Ukraine could fall into the hands of terrorists in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. This claim cannot be discounted since NATO has a consistent policy of shifting Western-made weapons from battlefront to battlefront, just as previously seen with weapons used to fight Colonel Muammar Gaddafi in Libya ending up in the hands of terrorist forces in Syria.

In Kiev on September 8, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken received from the President of Ukraine the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise “for services to Ukraine”. During the visit to Kiev, the US Secretary of State said that the US would provide military assistance worth $2.8 billion to Ukraine and 18 neighbouring countries affected by Russia’s special military operation. The budget includes $675 million for Ukraine to receive arms, ammunition and equipment, with the remainder being long-term investments to strengthen the security of Ukraine and neighbouring countries.

Along with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise was also awarded by Ukraine to the head of the Pentagon, the head of the European Commission and the European diplomatic mission, i.e. those who initiated and made the decision to supply weapons to Ukraine.

On the same day as Blinken’s visit to Kiev, China’s deputy permanent representative to the UN, Geng Shuang, expressed at a United Nations Security Council meeting serious concerns regarding the supply of weapons to Kiev. Such actions will not lead to peace, he said, but only complicate matters. The diplomat reaffirmed China’s consistent stance on security issues, stressing that Europe and the whole world can only be stable and secure in the long term if they work to create a reliable, indivisible and sustainable security system.

The Chinese are also interested in another issue – the transfer of more weapons to Ukraine, which only address Washington’s narrow and selfish geopolitical goals with Kiev’s help: the attempted weakening of Russia.

At the UN Security Council meeting, Geng Shuang also stated that China is seriously concerned about a large number of weapons and ammunition supplied to Ukraine falling into the “wrong hands”.

“Since the beginning of the crisis in Ukraine, China has consistently emphasised that the supply of weapons will not bring peace, and that adding fuel to fire will only complicate the problem,” Shuang said. “The harsh reality and humanitarian consequences of the past six months have fully demonstrated this. Equally worrying is the scenario that a large number of weapons and ammunition falling into the wrong hands, causing endless trouble, and creating security risks in Ukraine and in the wider region. We have noticed that relevant negative impact already began to emerge.”

Russian Ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzya shared the view of the Chinese diplomat and highlighted that Ukraine sells weapons supplied by the West to the world market. According to the Russian diplomat, the leaders of Western countries are turning Ukraine into a global hub for illegal weapons, which could soon be used by terrorists in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

China is concerned that American weapons supplied to Ukraine could fall into the hands of terrorists and pose a real threat to China’s economic interests in various parts of the world. With China growing at a high rate of 5% per year, achieved thanks to a sustained peace as the East Asian country has not been at war since 1974, new threats to international security from terrorism may impede its accelerated development.

Beijing is concerned that US weapons for Ukraine could fall into the hands of militant groups in countries with unstable regimes and state structures, especially as many of these countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America are strategic sources of raw materials and oil. Beijing is concerned about stability in the countries it has economic and political interests in, especially as it affects its goal of maintaining high economic growth.

On August 8, in Moscow, Chairman of the State Duma of Russia Vyacheslav Volodin and Chairman of China’s Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress Li Zhanshu discussed the situation in Ukraine. After the meeting, the Russian politician thanked his Chinese counterpart for his understanding and objective assessment of the US role in the development of the situation in Ukraine. According to Volodin, the US is pushing the world to a new round of tensions, and this threatens global security.

With China facing its own pressure because Washington is ramping up tensions in the Taiwan Strait, Beijing and Moscow will continue working closely to denounce and strategically respond to US aggression. None-the-less, having thousands of US weapons unaccounted for and spread across the world poses a major threat to China as they can be easily turned against its economic interests.

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Ahmed Adel is a Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher.

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