Russia's war on Ukraine is creating a global divide. West must be prepared if China increases its support of Vladimir Putin – Scotsman comment

As Vladimir Putin signalled his murderous war of aggression against Ukraine would continue, the Iron Curtain he has created around Russia grew higher.

In a speech, Putin claimed the West had started the war and posed a threat to Russia itself, as he desperately sought to justify the unjustifiable with yet more lies. And he ditched the last nuclear arms treaty with the US in the latest veiled threat to start a Third World War if his imperial ambitions are thwarted.

The response from the world's democracies came swiftly from Joe Biden – a US President once again acting as ‘the leader of the free world’ – when he addressed a crowd in Poland, a fellow Nato country that is home to 1.5 million Ukrainian refugees and which shares a tense border with Putin’s Russia.

Putin, he said, “thought autocrats like himself were tough and leaders of democracy were soft” when he attacked Ukraine. But, Biden said: “The democracies of the world have grown stronger, not weaker. The autocrats of the world have grown weaker, not stronger… in moments of great upheaval and uncertainty, knowing what you stand for is most important and knowing who stands with you makes all difference.” A coalition of 50 nations was now supplying weapons to Ukraine, he added, and the world’s largest-ever sanctions regime was in place against Russia, and would get tougher.

However, while many democracies are helping Ukraine, an alarming number of governments still support Putin. Iran’s despotic regime has been actively sending weapons, while China is thought to be planning to do so. It is as important to know who stands against you as who stands with you. Iran clearly wishes to join Putin behind his Iron Curtain; China’s position is less clear.

Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang has criticised the widespread “Ukraine today, Taiwan tomorrow” narrative, the fear that China’s attitude to Putin’s war is shaped by its own apparent intention to invade Taiwan. A better way to reassure the world, particularly those who do business with China, would be to rule out military action against Taiwan and help Ukraine.

Putin’s war is creating a global divide that cannot be ignored, in military or business terms. Failing to prepare for a world in which China’s despots pick the wrong side would be a catastrophic mistake.