Trump wants China’s ‘help’ to deal with wartime Russia. Will he get it?

Kyiv, Ukraine – Both Russia and Ukraine beryllium connected Chinese-made components for drones, jamming systems and the fibre optic cablegram attached to the drones to marque them immune to jamming.

If Beijing wanted to extremity the Russia-Ukraine war, it could bash truthful promptly and singlehandedly by banning the imports, according to 1 of the pioneers of drone warfare successful Ukraine.

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“Almost each constituent is made successful China,” Andrey Pronin, who runs a drone school successful Kyiv, told Al Jazeera. “China could chopped disconnected their broadside – oregon ours.”

Beijing supplies Moscow with four-fifths of drones, physics chips and different dual-purpose goods that extremity up connected the beforehand line, keeping the Russian warfare instrumentality rolling, according to Ukrainian intelligence.

Ukraine is trying to wean disconnected its reliance connected Chinese drones amid Beijing’s regularisation of exports, but they inactive relationship for a staggering 97 percent of components, according to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a deliberation vessel successful Washington, DC.

United States President Donald Trump hopes that Thursday’s acme with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping tin alteration that.

“I’d similar China to assistance america retired with Russia,” Trump said connected October 24, 2 days aft cancelling his talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and slapping sanctions connected 2 Russian lipid companies.

Trump is scheduled to conscionable with Xi successful South Korea’s Seoul connected the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. Their past gathering was held successful 2019, successful Japan’s Osaka.

Zelenskyy hopes gathering volition ‘help america all’

Beijing, which has claimed it is officially neutral regarding the war, denies nonstop engagement successful the Russia-Ukraine conflict. But it plays a relation arsenic Moscow’s main governmental and economical backer.

As Beijing seeks to “return” Taiwan to its fold, Moscow is understood by observers to beryllium sharing with the Chinese subject accusation connected the usage of drones, the vulnerabilities of Western-supplied weaponry and the absorption of airborne troops.

Meanwhile, amid mounting Western sanctions, Beijing is buying discounted oil, state and earthy materials, paying Moscow tens of billions of dollars a year.

That is the anemic spot Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wants Trump to people successful talks with Xi.

If Trump manages to “find an knowing with China astir the simplification of Russian vigor exports”, helium said connected Monday, “I deliberation it’ll assistance america all.”

But Trump’s latest Russia sanctions slapped connected state-owned lipid elephantine Rosneft and the backstage Lukoil institution could inadvertently fortify Beijing.

Both companies volition beryllium forced to merchantability their overseas subsidiaries and diminish their relation successful planetary projects – namely, successful ex-Soviet Central Asia and respective African nations, wherever their spot whitethorn beryllium taken by Chinese companies.

According to Volodymyr Fesenko, caput of the Kyiv-based Penta deliberation tank, Xi’s relation successful ending the warfare is pivotal.

“Without the fiscal support, without the economical practice with China, Russia can’t proceed the war,” helium said. “China is Russia’s main economical resource.

“Had [Beijing] wanted to extremity this war, it would person achieved it precise fast,” helium added. “China’s harsh presumption successful closed-door, non-public talks with Putin would beryllium enough.”

However, Beijing has “no inclination oregon involvement successful making a acquisition to Trump”, said Fesenko.

A car drives on a roadworthy covered with an anti-drone nett adjacent the municipality of Sloviansk successful the Donetsk region, Ukraine, connected October 27, 2025 [Sofiia Gatilova/Reuters]

During his archetypal presidency, ties with Beijing spiralled arsenic the White House sought to curb China’s increasing planetary clout and its entree to Western technologies.

China and the US person introduced tariffs connected communal exports arsenic Beijing threatened to chopped disconnected the commercialized successful captious minerals, and Washington promised to curb the transportation of technologies. The Russia-Ukraine warfare is improbable to predominate the summit, arsenic Trump and Xi person bigger food to fry arsenic their nations present face a commercialized war.

‘Freezing the war’

At the aforesaid time, Beijing has been boosting its economical clout successful Eastern Europe, Moscow’s erstwhile stomping ground, investing heavy successful caller infrastructure.

“The escalation of the war, its dispersed to Europe, is thing that contradicts China’s interests,” Fesenko said.

However, Washington and Beijing whitethorn privation to support the warfare simmering oregon frozen without letting Moscow oregon Kyiv triumph a decisive victory, argued Kyiv-based expert Igar Tyshkevych.

Washington is not going to payment from Russia’s “overwhelming victory” arsenic the Kremlin volition undoubtedly question the relation of a “third planetary leader”, helium said.

But neither Beijing oregon Washington could payment from Russia’s afloat defeat, arsenic China is acrophobic by destabilisation adjacent its bluish and northwestern borders.

“Washington is progressive astir freezing the war,” Tyshkevych said. “I won’t beryllium amazed if Beijing volition beryllium progressive successful the aforesaid direction.”

If frozen, determination are fears that the warfare could reignite erstwhile Russia recovers economically and accumulates capable resources.

To debar that, Kyiv would look to gathering caller oregon strengthening existing partnerships, particularly with the European Union and its idiosyncratic members, arsenic good arsenic countries specified arsenic Turkiye and Pakistan that some person cordial ties with Beijing.

And Putin inactive has plentifulness of incentives to connection to Trump.

There is simply a reported connection to make infrastructure for the Arctic oversea way that volition shorten the transportation of goods from Asia to Europe by weeks.

Moscow besides considered a associated task to merchantability Russian earthy state to Europe, make lipid and state fields successful Russia’s Far East, and proviso uncommon earths that are important for US tech giants.

In a post-war environment, Putin whitethorn besides suggest Russia’s expertise successful processing spent atomic substance from US powerfulness stations – and travel up with atomic information deals, including non-proliferation.

Non-proliferation “is the lone tract wherever Russia is ‘equal’ to the United States,” Tyshkevych said.