(AP) A United States official said Russia asked China for military equipment to use in its invasion of Ukraine, a request that heightened tensions about the ongoing war ahead of a Monday meeting in Rome between top aides for the United States and Chinese governments.In advance of the talks, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan bluntly warned China to avoid helping Russia evade punishment from global sanctions that have hammered the Russian economy.
We will not allow that to go forward, he said.The prospect of China offering Russia financial help is one of several concerns for President Joe Biden.
A United States official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, said that in recent days, Russia had requested support from China, including military equipment, to press forward in its ongoing war with Ukraine.
The official did not provide details on the scope of the request.
The request was first reported by the Financial Times and The Washington Post.The Biden administration is also accusing China of spreading Russian disinformation that could be a pretext for Russian President Vladimir Putins forces to attack Ukraine with chemical or biological weapons.Russias invasion of Ukraine has put China in a delicate spot with two of its biggest trading partners: the United States and European Union.
China needs access to those markets, yet it also has shown support for Moscow, joining with Russia in declaring a friendship with no limits.In his talks with senior Chinese foreign policy adviser Yang Jiechi, Sullivan will indeed be looking for limits in what Beijing will do for Moscow.Im not going to sit here publicly and brandish threats, he told CNN in a round of Sunday news show interviews.
But what I will tell you is we are communicating directly and privately to Beijing that there absolutely will be consequences if China helps Russia backfill its losses from the sanctions.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, he said.In brief comments on the talks, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian did not mention Ukraine, saying that the key issue of this meeting is to implement the important consensus reached by the Chinese and United States heads of state in their virtual summit in November last year.They will exchange views on China-United States relations and international and regional issues of common concern, Zhao said in comments posted on the ministrys website late Sunday.The White House said the talks will focus on the direct impact of Russias war against Ukraine on regional and global security.Biden administration officials say Beijing is spreading false Russian claims that Ukraine was running chemical and biological weapons labs with United States support.
They say China is effectively providing cover if Russia moves ahead with a biological or chemical weapons attack on Ukrainians.When Russia starts accusing other countries of preparing to launch biological or chemical attacks, Sullivan told NBCs Meet the Press, its a good tell that they may be on the cusp of doing it themselves.Pentagon spokesman John Kirby, on ABCs This Week, said we havent seen anything that indicates some sort of imminent chemical or biological attack right now, but were watching this very, very closely.The striking United States accusations about Russian disinformation and Chinese complicity came after Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova alleged with no evidence that the United States was financing Ukrainian chemical and biological weapons labs.The Russian claim was echoed by Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian, who claimed there were 26 bio-labs and related facilities in which the United States Department of Defense has absolute control.
The United Nations has said it has received no information backing up such accusations.White House press secretary Jen Psaki called the claims preposterous.There is growing concern inside the White House that China is aligning itself with Russia on the Ukraine war in hopes it will advance Beijings vision of the world order in the long term, according to a person familiar with administration thinking.
The person was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.Sullivan told Face the Nation on CBS that the Russian rhetoric on chemical and biological warfare is an indicator that, in fact, the Russians are getting ready to do it and try and pin the blame elsewhere and nobody should fall for that.The international community has assessed that Russia used chemical weapons in attempts to assassinate Putin detractors such as Alexei Navalny and former spy Sergei Skripal.
Russia also supports the Assad government in Syria, which has used chemical weapons against its people in a decadelong civil war.China has been one of few countries to avoid criticizing the Russians for its invasion of Ukraine.
Chinas leader Xi Jinping hosted Putin for the opening of the Winter Olympics in Beijing, just three weeks before Russia invaded on Feb.
24.During Putins visit, the two leaders issued a 5,000-word statement declaring limitless friendship.The Chinese abstained on U.N.
votes censuring Russia and has criticized economic sanctions against Moscow.
It has expressed its support for peace talks and offered its services as a mediator, despite questions about its neutrality and scant experience mediating international conflict.But questions remain over how far Beijing will go to alienate the West and put its own economy at risk.
Sullivan said China and all countries are on notice that they cannot basically bail Russia out ...
give Russia a workaround to the sanctions, with impunity.Chinese officials have said Washington shouldnt be able to complain about Russias actions because the United States invaded Iraq under false pretenses.
The United States claimed to have evidence Saddam Hussein was stockpiling weapons of mass destruction though none was ever found.On CNN, Sullivan said the administration believes China knew that Putin was planning something before the invasion of Ukraine.
But he said the Chinese government may not have understood the full extent of it because its very possible that Putin lied to them the same way that he lied to Europeans and others.Sullivan and Yang last met for face-to-face talks in Switzerland, where Sullivan raised the Biden administrations concerns about Chinas military provocations against Taiwan, human rights abuses against ethnic minorities and efforts to squelch pro-democracy advocates in Hong Kong.That meeting set the stage for a three-hour long virtual meeting in November between Biden and Xi.Sullivan is also to meet Luigi Mattiolo, diplomatic adviser to Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, while in Rome.Source: Associated Press--Agencies.
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