In March, the USA disrupted the transfer of Polish MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine. Washington took such a step after an agreement with Beijing, which promised in return to prevent Russian leader Vladimir Putin from using nuclear weapons. This is reported by The Spectator. This information was made public by British journalist Owen Matthews, referring to the words of Chinese sources.
It is indicated that at the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, China played a decisive, although publicly inconspicuous, role in making strategic decisions both in Washington and in Moscow.
"It was a rear-end intervention approved by Beijing, which forced the US to break the agreement with Poland on the supply of Soviet MiG-29 aircraft to the Ukrainian Air Force back in March," the newspaper writes.
According to the sources of the publication, which has long-standing close ties with China's top political and military leadership, Beijing knew about Moscow's plans for a "special military operation." But the Russians presented the future military operation as "limited" and with the so-called "return of lost Russian territory and reunification of the Russian Federation within historical boundaries."
"After Putin's threat of nuclear escalation on February 27, the world, including the Chinese, was alarmed. Therefore, the key priority for Beijing was to avoid any nuclear escalation and to facilitate the achievement of a ceasefire," said a source who has regular personal contacts with the leaders of the People's Republic of National Military Academy).
Therefore, as the publication writes, when in a few days there was a threat of further escalation after the offer of the Polish government to supply Ukraine with Soviet MiG-29 fighters, the Chinese were worried.
"At first, the USA reacted positively to Poland's idea to hand over its fighter jets to the Ukrainian army. But the next day, on March 8, the Americans spoke out against such a handover," the media noted.
It is indicated that the reason for this was contacts with the generals of the Chinese army. They believed that this would lead to an escalation of the conflict, so they called on the US to prevent it.
Instead, the Chinese generals, who had good private contacts with Russian generals, promised to do everything possible to "neutralize Putin's nuclear threat."
"Thanks to these unofficial 'second track' contacts, Washington and Beijing agreed that if the US stopped the MiG deal, Beijing's generals would do everything possible to defuse Putin's nuclear threats at the operational level, and it worked," said a Chinese source, "Yes, in the United States decided that the supply of planes would be too much."