Report on aid to Moscow
US worried about China’s rapprochement with Russia
03/14/2022, 10:55 p.m
The New York Times reports that Moscow has asked Beijing for military aid in the Ukraine war. Although the Kremlin denies this, the US government fears that the two countries will intensify their relationship – and warns China of the consequences.
Against the background of the Ukraine war, the United States has expressed concern about China’s “rapprochement” with Russia. After a meeting between senior Beijing and Washington officials in Rome, a US official said Washington considered Beijing’s “rapprochement” with Moscow to be “deeply concerning”. The New York Times previously reported that Moscow had asked Beijing for military assistance in attacking Ukraine. The Kremlin denied the report.
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan had a seven-hour meeting with Chinese Communist Party chief diplomat Yang Jiechi at a hotel in Rome on Monday. The US representative, who wished to remain anonymous, described the conversation between Sullivan and Jiechi as “intense” and “very open”. The White House only announced the meeting on Sunday.
Sullivan, Yang and their two delegations wanted to discuss “ongoing efforts to manage competition between our two countries” and the “impact of Russia’s war on Ukraine on regional and global security,” it said. Meanwhile, a report in the New York Times on Sunday caused a stir: Russia not only asked China for support in the Ukraine war, but also for help in circumventing Western sanctions, the newspaper reported, citing US government circles.
Beijing says Moscow is ‘solid as a rock’
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists that Russia had not asked China for military aid. Russia has enough “own potential” to continue the war in Ukraine, said President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman. The government in Beijing accused the United States of spreading misinformation. “Lately, the US has been constantly spreading fake news about China,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said. He did not specifically address the New York Times report and did not deny it. A spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington said he had “never heard of” the Russian request for help.
Beijing has repeatedly refused to condemn Russia for the war in Ukraine. The friendship with Moscow is “rock solid”. In addition, China had repeatedly criticized NATO’s eastward expansion, which Russia cited as one of the reasons for the invasion. At the same time, Beijing had signaled its willingness to mediate in the conflict.
Sullivan warned Beijing on Sunday that Washington is watching closely whether and how China supports Russia. “We are concerned about this and have told Beijing that we will not stand by while any country compensates Russia for losses from economic sanctions,” he told CNN. Before meeting Jiechi, Sullivan said that while he did not want to make “threats” against rival China, “we are telling Beijing face-to-face and privately that there will definitely be consequences for evading sanctions on a large scale.”