Finland has said that the two countries’ cooperation is a growing challenge for the US-led military bloc
Finland has accused China of supporting Russia in the Ukraine conflict and described the two countries’ deepening cooperation as a growing challenge for NATO. Beijing has repeatedly denied such allegations, insisting its trade with Moscow is lawful and balanced.
Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen made the remarks in an interview with AFP after hosting a meeting of Nordic counterparts in Helsinki on Wednesday, where military cooperation and rearmament efforts topped the agenda.
Hakkanen claimed that China is “massively financing Russia’s war chest,” alleging that it supplies military components and participates in joint military exercises and other large-scale activities in the Arctic, Indo-Pacific, and beyond.
The Finnish minister added that Russia would be unable to sustain itself for long without such support, saying that “India, of course, provides funding in other ways, but China is doing so quite deliberately.”
The Russian economy has grown steadily despite the pressure of the Western sanctions. Moscow says restrictions are counterproductive and backfiring on the nations that implemented them.
Hakkanen described the expanding partnership between Moscow and Beijing as a challenge for the US-led military bloc. He also said that Nordic nations discussed plans on tripling ammunition production.
Beijing has called for a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine conflict and accused the West of “double standards.” The Chinese Foreign Ministry insists it has never supplied lethal weapons to either side and strictly controls the export of dual-use goods.
China has refused to join Western sanctions imposed on Moscow, instead expanding bilateral trade, which nearly doubled from 2020 to 2024, surpassing $240 billion last year. The two nations have essentially abandoned Western currencies in bilateral trade, with most payments now conducted in rubles and yuan, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said this month. They have also pledged to jointly respond to external challenges.
In recent months, the West has stepped up efforts to target Russia’s trading partners in an effort to isolate the country and curb its export revenues. Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned Western nations against adopting a “colonial” tone toward China and India or seeking to “punish” them for trading with Moscow.
Read the full article here