Russia has asked China for weapons and aid in its invasion of Ukraine after suffering huge losses, the US has claimed. US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, who is due to meet with China’s top diplomat Yang Jiechi in Rome on Monday, warned Beijing that it would “absolutely” face consequences if it helped Moscow evade sweeping sanctions over the war in Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has turned to China asking for military equipment, sparking concern in the White House that Beijing may undermine Western efforts to help Ukrainian forces defend their country, US officials said.
Asked about the reports, Liu Pengyu, spokeperson for China’s embassy in Washington, said: “I’ve never heard of that.” He said China found the current situation in Ukraine “disconcerting” and added: “We support and encourage all efforts that are conducive to a peaceful settlement of the crisis.” Liu said “utmost efforts should be made to support Russia and Ukraine in carrying forward negotiations despite the difficult situation to produce a peaceful outcome”
“We will not allow that to go forward and allow there to be a lifeline to Russia from these economic sanctions from any country, anywhere in the world.”
A senior Biden administration official said the war in Ukraine and its impact on regional and global security would be a “significant topic” during Sullivan’s meeting with Yang, given China’s moves to align “itself with Russia to advance their own vision of the world order”.
The meeting, which had been in planning for some time, is part of a broader effort by Washington and Beijing to maintain open channels of communication and manage competition between the world’s two largest economies, the official said.
No specific outcomes were expected, the source added, speaking on condition of anonymity. Wang Huiyao, head of a Beijing think tank and adviser to the Chinese government, warned of “an escalatory spiral” in a column published in the New York Times on Sunday, and said China was “uniquely positioned to act as a neutral mediator between a Western-supported Ukraine and Russia” to end the war.
“Unpalatable as some in the West may find the idea, it is time to offer the Russian leader an off-ramp with China’s help,” Wang wrote. The United States on Saturday said it would rush up to $200 million worth of additional weapons to Ukrainian forces as they try to defend against Russian shelling in the largest war in Europe since World War Two.
Washington and its allies have imposed sweeping, unprecedented sanctions against Russia and banned its energy imports, while providing billions of dollars of military and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. Individually and together they have appealed to China, Gulf nations and others that have failed to condemn the Russian invasion to join in isolating Russia from the global economy.
Beijing, a key trading partner of Russia, has refused to call Russia’s actions an invasion, although Chinese President Xi Jinping last week did call for “maximum restraint” in Ukraine after a virtual meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron.
Xi also expressed concern about the impact of sanctions on global finance, energy supplies, transportation and supply chains, amid growing signs that Western sanctions are limiting China’s ability to buy Russian oil.
