China is helping Moscow implement its biggest military expansion since the USSR

US officials hope that the release of this intelligence will prompt European allies to pressure China. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will visit Beijing this weekend, while the foreign ministers of the G7 (Big Seven) countries will meet in Italy next week.

Revealing the US findings, the officials said China was helping Russia in several areas, including joint production of drones, space-based military capabilities and exports of machine tools critical to ballistic missile production.

China has been a key factor in rebuilding Russia’s defense industrial base “which had suffered significant setbacks” since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a senior US official told reporters on condition of anonymity.

“Russia is implementing the most ambitious defense [rūpniecības] expansion since the Soviet era and at a faster pace than we thought possible at the beginning of this conflict,” the official said.

“We believe that one of the most radical ways we have at this time to support Ukraine is to persuade the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to stop helping Russia rebuild its military industrial base,” the official said. “It would be difficult for Russia to sustain its war effort without the PRC’s contribution.”

US officials said China provided more than 70% of the $900 million worth of machine tools imported by Russia in the last quarter of 2023, which are used to manufacture ballistic missiles.

US officials also said that 90% of the microelectronics imported by Russia, which are used in the production of missiles, tanks and aircraft, came from China last year.

The US has repeatedly warned China not to support Russia. Both Chinese and US officials have acknowledged that China refrains from directly supplying Russia with weapons. Moscow has turned to the sanctioned nations of North Korea and Iran to replenish its weapons stockpile.