China has refuted accusations that Russia requested military assistance from Beijing in its conflict with Ukraine, accusing the US of “spreading falsehoods.”
In a statement to state-run news agency China Global Television Network, the Chinese Foreign Ministry denied that Russia had asked China for drones and financial aid to help with its incursion.
Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in the United States, said that he had “never heard” of reports that Moscow had sought Beijing for military and economic help, Newsweek reported.
China may suffer if it helps Russia with its sanctions
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, who will meet with China’s senior diplomat Yang Jiechi in Rome on Monday, warned Beijing that it would “definitely” suffer consequences if it assisted Moscow in evading broad sanctions over the Ukraine conflict.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, the White House expressed fear that Beijing may undercut Western attempts to assist Ukrainian soldiers in defending their nation, according to multiple US officials.
One US source said, without offering details, that Sullivan wants to express Washington’s worries in his meeting with Yang, as well as sketch out the implications and rising isolation China would face worldwide if it increased its support for Russia.
According to US authorities, Russia requested military supplies and help from China once the invasion began. Sullivan said that Washington was keeping a careful eye on Beijing to see whether it was providing economic or material help to Russia and that if it did, it would face repercussions.
A senior Biden administration official said the meeting is part of a larger effort by Washington and Beijing to maintain open channels of communication and manage the rivalry between the world’s two largest economies.
Per Business World Online, the source said that no specific outcomes were expected. The conference’s goal, according to Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian, was to “implement the key consensus” established at Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joseph R. Biden, Jr.’s virtual meeting in November, which covered “strategic stability” and weapons control problems.
According to a statement on the ministry’s website, the two sides would discuss US-China ties as well as international and regional problems of mutual importance.
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