Russia has asked China military equipment to support its offensive on Ukraineas reported this Sunday night by the Financial Times and the Washington Post, citing US officials. for now, Beijing has not condemned the Russian attackrefrained from condemning the invasion at the UN General Assembly and has not called Russia’s move an invasion, but has always defended a negotiated solution.
US officials assured the Financial Times that Russia has asked China military equipment and “other types of aid” since the invasion began, but declined to elaborate on what Moscow has asked of China. According to a person familiar with the situation and quoted by the Financial Timesthe United States is preparing to warn allies that China might be thinking of agreeing to Russia’s requests.
The Chinese embassy in the US denies the information
Other US officials have assured the aforementioned media outlet that Russia is running out of some types of weaponry. At the moment, the Government of the United States has not made any type of comment; and the spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington, Liu Pengyu, has indicated that has no record of any Russian military request to your country.
This news comes as US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan travels to Rome to meet this Monday with China’s top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, as stated by the White House. Before leaving the United States, Sullivan warned China that did not try to “bail out” Russia. “We will make sure that neither China nor anyone else can compensate Russia for these losses,” Sullivan told NBC television.
So far, China’s position has been neutral, despite the fact that Beijing has not condemned the Russian attack and he does not qualify it as an invasion. China’s priority is to prevent the tense situation in Ukraine from getting out of control, its embassy in the US has explained in response to reports of alleged Russian requests. “The current situation in Ukraine is really puzzling“, Pengyu said in a statement. “The high priority now is prevent the tense situation from escalating or even get out of control”, he concluded.
America responds
The reactions to this request for help from Russia have not been long in coming. One of the first, and one of the most outstanding is that of the United States. US National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan will meet China’s top diplomat Yang Jiechi on Monday.. At that meeting he will warn you of the economic punishments that China will face in case of helping Russia in the war with Ukraine, according to the Reuters agency of North American authorities. In addition, he has specified that if Russia’s attacks reach NATO territory, NATO will respond “with full force”.
Sullivan, in an interview with CNN, confirmed that from Washington Bilateral exchanges between the two countries are closely monitored. “We are directly and privately informing Beijing that there will be consequences if there are efforts to evade sanctions or support Russia“said the American adviser. One of these measures would be to prevent the arrival of American software. In terms of the market, China is the largest exporter in the world, the great trading partner of the European Union and the largest seller of products in the United States. All this, in case of helping China, makes the consequences are noticeable in the West.