A Russian military victory in Ukraine would embolden Beijing and lead to war between the United States and China over Taiwan, exiled Russian tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky said in an interview with The Washington Post published on February 15, 2023.
“A steppingstone”
“A lost war in Ukraine is a steppingstone to war in the Asia Pacific,” Khodorkovsky told the Post in London, according to Stars and Stripes. He criticised those in the US who frame support for Ukraine and Taiwan as an either-or choice, calling the argument “so primitive that I have the feeling it must be a trick.”
Three options
Khodorkovsky said the West faced three options: continuing incremental aid, which he called “a very big risk”; rapidly escalating support with long-range missiles and fighter jets to cut Russian supply lines; or walking away. “The only thing that can break the situation on the battlefield is aviation,” he said, adding that a quick defeat of Russian forces would be “best for Russia.”
He warned that if Putin won in Ukraine, nationalist supporters would not let him stop, and another war would follow. A settlement ceding Donetsk and Luhansk would strengthen hawks, he said.
Munich
Khodorkovsky, the former owner of Yukos who spent a decade in prison before being pardoned in 2013, was invited to speak at the Munich Security Conference along with Garry Kasparov and Yulia Navalnaya. The conference did not invite Russian government officials, with chair Christoph Heusgen saying they would not be invited while Putin “negates Ukraine’s right to exist.”
Sources
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