It is in the interests of the US and its allies to defeat

as soon as possible and focus on the potential threat from China, which can benefit from the consequences of the war in the long term.

This was stated by former US Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs Wess Mitchell in an interview with PAP.

"In my estimation, the US and our allies have a chance to gain a big advantage over Russia and China by helping Ukraine win the war. In my opinion, the preferred strategy would be to

," Mitchell says. , a former employee of the administration of former US President Donald Trump.

He adds that supporting Ukraine in the war is in the interests of the US for a number of reasons.

"First, in this way, Ukraine strengthens its deterrence and stops further attacks by Russia. Second, the Russians weaken economically and militarily for a while, and the Europeans, if they fulfill their obligations, will strengthen their defense," he explains. he.

According to his assessment, this will allow to direct most of the efforts to Asia, without worrying about "another theater of military operations".

At the same time, Mitchell agrees with those who say that the US cannot afford to compete on two fronts and must respond sensitively to the threat from China. 

Asked how the war in Ukraine might affect China's calculations and interests, Mitchell said that while its ally's problems are inconvenient for Beijing in the short term,

"In the short term,

Remember that China's diplomatic strategy has been to show itself in the world as a constructive force. It has been worked on for a long time, focusing on commercial relations. And here we have a guy who recently sat next to the president (Xi Jinping) in the box of honor at the Beijing Olympics as his best friend, and now he's threatened with nuclear war and his troops are barbarically tortured," Mitchell says.

In his opinion,

He points, for example, to the expansion of Russian gas infrastructure towards China.

According to him,

which have been Russia's allies until now.

"Already at the last meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Samarkand, it was clear that the leaders of Central Asia already respect Russia much less. Well, according to his assessment, this influence will inevitably be directed to China to a greater extent," concluded Mitchell.

China, the USA, the Russian Federation and the war in Ukraine

The Financial Times wrote that Vladimir

Now China believes that Russia is likely to lose the war against Ukraine.

Despite the declared cooperation with Russia, some Chinese officials note that "their country does not trust Putin."

The publication claims that China now wants to demonstrate that it is ready to restrain Putin if he dares to use nuclear weapons, and to participate in the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine. 

China's ambassador to the European Union, Fu Kong, said that

.

According to him, the Chinese authorities do not want to "choose between friends" — Ukraine and Russia.

However, the US believes that China's claims of neutrality in the Russian Federation's war against Ukraine contradict real actions, which on the contrary show that 

Washington also warned China about the

Tensions between China and the US do not abate due to the situation surrounding Taiwan, which Beijing considers its territory.

Their relations intensified after the visit of the Speaker of the US House of Representatives,

 , in August 2022.

China has reacted critically to the plans of American congressmen and leaders of the Congress to visit Taiwan.

Joe Biden emphasized that the United States will 

in the event of a Chinese invasion.

But Chinese authorities have condemned the United States for a new defense authorization law that increases military aid to Taiwan.

However, at the beginning of January 2023, during a conversation with his American counterpart, the Chinese Foreign Minister stated

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