Joe Biden has warned Beijing that it would “absolutely” face consequences if it helped Russia evade sanctions over the war in Ukraine.
Biden’s message was delivered by U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan, who is due to meet China’s top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, in Rome on Monday, The Guardian reports.
During an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, Sullivan said Washington was watching closely to see to what extent Beijing provided economic or material support to Russia, and would impose consequences if that occurred.
“We are communicating directly, privately to Beijing, that there will absolutely be consequences for large-scale sanctions evasion efforts or support to Russia to backfill them,” Sullivan said, according to The Guardian.
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“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 added.
The Guardian also quoted a senior administration official who said the war in Ukraine would be a “significant topic” during Sullivan’s meeting with Yang.
“This meeting is taking place in the context of Russia’s unjustified and brutal war against Ukraine, and as China has aligned itself with Russia to advance their own vision of the world order, and so I expect … the two of them will discuss the impact of Russia’s war against Ukraine on regional and global security,” the source said.
The warning from the US comes The Pentagon said it would rush up to $200m of additional weapons to Ukrainian forces as they try to defend against Russian shelling in the largest war in Europe since World War II.
