A former Reagan-era defense official said China not only approved but also benefits most from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, fueling continued conflict despite peace efforts.
Retired Army Lt. Col. Frank Gaffney Jr., who served as assistant secretary of defense under President Ronald Reagan, said Saturday on Newsmax that China played a decisive role in Russia’s war in Ukraine, claiming Beijing gave Moscow a green light to invade and continues to profit from the conflict.
Appearing on “Wake Up America Weekend,” Gaffney said Russian President Vladimir Putin has little interest in negotiations and remains focused on military victory. But he argued that another power is even more central to the war’s continuation.
“I believe that the president is being tapped along by Vladimir Putin, something he complained bitterly about previously,” Gaffney said. “I think the evidence is now pretty conclusive that Vladimir Putin is not prepared to do by negotiations, something to prevent the victory that he is pursuing on the battlefield.”
“But more to the point, folks, I can’t believe that we’ve gotten this far in this conversation without introducing another player that is very much involved in all of this, and I think is contributing to the fact that there is not going to be peace with Vladimir Putin’s participation, and that is Communist China,” he continued.
Gaffney asserted that Beijing supported Moscow’s decision to launch its invasion in 2022 and has since reaped significant benefits.
“The Chinese have, I believe, green-lighted the invasion in the first place,” he said. “They have clearly been benefiting from it, probably more than anybody else, through cheap oil acquisitions, through arms sales, and not least, and this is really the critical point, through the chaos that it has created, including most especially the complete diversion of American national focus, resources and energy from this region in which China is seeking to act aggressively as well, namely the Pacific and far beyond, perhaps.”
He added that Washington’s failure to hold Beijing accountable has further emboldened China’s role in prolonging the conflict.
“So I just think if you put all of this together, the failure to hold the Chinese accountable, to say nothing of creating pressure that would offset what they, I think, are doing to signal to Vladimir Putin, keep going. We want this war to continue. We’re deluding ourselves that there is a peace at hand, no matter who gets together and when,” Gaffney said.
His remarks came as Russia signaled it intends to slow-walk any peace deal on Ukraine, underscoring a growing divide between the Kremlin and President Donald Trump’s efforts to bring the war to an end.
During a White House summit earlier this week, Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and seven European leaders to explore prospects for peace.
Trump welcomed the meeting, but Moscow’s reluctance to engage underscores the difficulties ahead for any negotiated settlement.
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