Xi Risks Becoming Top US Threat If Trump Cuts Deal With Putin
- US and Russian officials have started talks in Saudi Arabia
- Washington could focus more on China if war in Ukraine ends
Xi Jinping
Photographer: Kevin Frayer/Getty Images
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For President Xi Jinping, an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine brings many opportunities and one major threat: China would suddenly become the main focus of the US military.
US and Russian officials have started talks in Saudi Arabia to negotiate an end to the three-year war, prompting deep concern in Europe and Ukraine itself over whether Donald Trump will effectively hand a victory to Vladimir Putin. China has publicly welcomed the talks, and is positioning itself to benefit from reconstruction efforts — as well as the deepening rift among the US and its allies over NATO, the meaning of democracy and the international rules-based order.