Key Points and Summary – The United States has sharply escalated its rhetoric against China, with the U.S. Ambassador to NATO publicly accusing Beijing of “subsidizing” Russia’s invasion and fighting a “proxy war” to distract America.
-This direct warning comes as President Trump threatens new tariffs on buyers of Russian oil if a ceasefire isn’t reached within 50 days.
-Meanwhile, the diplomatic front remains bleak, as the latest round of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine collapsed in Istanbul after just 40 minutes, with both sides holding firm to their irreconcilable demands.
China Gets a Warning on Ukraine War
Earlier this month, President Donald Trump announced that he was allowing the provision of new weapons to Ukraine, which would be supplied through NATO allies.
Additionally, he announced that new secondary tariffs would take effect against countries that purchase oil from Russia, if Moscow doesn’t agree to a ceasefire within 50 days.
This was primarily seen as directed at China and India.
Now, the U.S. ambassador to NATO has fired off a warning at China, against “subsidizing” Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“I think they need to be called out for their subsidizing this killing that is happening on the battlefields in Ukraine,” Matthew Whitaker, the U.S. ambassador to NATO, said in a Fox Business interview with Maria Bartiromo this week.
“China thinks they’re fighting a proxy war through Russia. We’re seeing in some statements from the Chinese government that they want to keep the U.S. and our allies occupied with this war, so that we can’t focus on our other strategic challenges,” Whitaker added.
He also mentioned India and Brazil as countries that buy oil from the Russians, which is being sanctioned by the U.S., EU and other Western nations.
Whitaker, a former acting attorney general in Trump’s first term, said in the Fox Business interview that he has been tasked with coordinating the arms shipments. “We’ve been doing nothing but moving as fast as possible to accomplish this.”
He added, though, that “this war is not going to be resolved on the battlefield.”
“President Trump wants peace in the world,” and he’s committed to that, Whitaker said on Fox, as he continued to praise Trump for making “smart decisions.”
More Very Short Peace Talks
Meanwhile, representatives of Russia and Ukraine once again sat down for peace talks on Wednesday in Istanbul.
But just as on previous occasions, the talks were short-lived.
CNN, citing Russia’s Tass news agency, reported that the parties sat down on Wednesday but that the talks ended after about 40 minutes.
Russia’s side was led by Putin aide Vladimir Medinsky, while Rustem Umerov, Ukraine’s former defense minister, led the talks on the Ukrainian side. And it didn’t appear that either side had moved much on their positions from the previous rounds.
“No one expects an easy path. It will be a very difficult discussion,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov had said earlier in the day, according to CNN.
Earlier in the day, the Moscow Times had previewed the new round of peace talks.
“Ukraine’s latest framework reiterates that a full and unconditional ceasefire on land, sea and in the air for at least 30 days is a necessary prerequisite for negotiations,” the report said, with territorial considerations only to be discussed after a ceasefire.
“Russia’s version ties a ceasefire to Ukraine’s full withdrawal from the partially Moscow-held Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions,” the report said of Russia’s position. “According to documents published by state agencies, Moscow’s proposal also calls for an end to Ukrainian mobilization and Western military support for Kyiv, the withdrawal of foreign personnel from Ukraine and the formal recognition of Crimea and the four partially occupied regions as part of Russia.”
The report added that Medinsky, the lead Russian negotiator, is the author of “several history books that promote Russian nationalism,” and that in previous talks, Medinsky had “ invoked the Great Northern War of 1700-1721 as evidence that Moscow was ready to continue fighting Kyiv for as long as it takes.”
The previous talks had, however, yielded an agreement in which the two sides agreed to exchange prisoners, as well as the bodies of soldiers killed so far in the war.
About the Author: Stephen Silver
Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist, and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review, and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. For over a decade, Stephen has authored thousands of articles that focus on politics, national security, technology, and the economy. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.
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