Candidate to Italian PM says China will become 'the big winner' if Ukraine falls

Giorgia Meloni, leader of the nationalist Brothers of Italy party, warned on Sunday of the risk posed to Western nations by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, calling it the "tip of the iceberg" in a struggle for influence, Report informs, citing Reuters.

"If Ukraine falls and the West perishes, the big winner will not be (Vladimir) Putin's Russia, but Xi Jinping's China," Meloni told a business conference.

"The war in Ukraine is the tip of the iceberg of a conflict aimed at reshaping the world order," she said.