China and Russia won't engage in direct military cooperation - politician

He said this on Espreso TV. 

"I would not make China our friend or supporter. Because Xi Jinping and Putin have the same views on ideology, what the world should be like, how it should be governed. China is just more pragmatic. Beijing sees that Putin is not winning this war. And China is good at calculating economic risks and benefits. Xi Jinping's economic situation is the most difficult in many years: a real economic downturn, rising inflation, a bursting construction bubble, a lack of labor, a decline in birth rates - all of this is a problem for China," the politician said.

Rybachuk added that China's largest trading partners are the EU and the US.

"And, looking at the situation realistically, Xi Jinping cannot help but realize that Putin will not win now. But Xi Jinping would very much like Russia to at least not lose and come out of this war weakened. We are interested in whether China will provide weapons to Russia. I am much more convinced that China will not do this, but will provide moral support to Russia. There are other ways, for example, through North Korea, Iran, or other countries. But we are not likely to see military cooperation between China and Russia directly," Rybachuk summarized.

• On November 14, Xi Jinping arrived in the United States for the first time in 6 years.
• On Wednesday, November 15, US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping met in California at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.
• On November 17, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced that US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping have reached an agreement to resume military-to-military talks between the two countries.