According to talks CNN had with two senior United States officials, Russia requested China provide military aid, including aircraft, as well as economic aid in response to its aggressive invasion of Ukraine.
According to one of the officers, the demands came as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
However, that official did not go into detail on the Chinese response, just saying the Chinese reacted. The possibility of Chinese aid in Russia’s invasion would be a major step in the conflict.
Moreover, it has the potential to upend the tenuous grip Ukrainian troops still have on the nation, while also acting as a counterbalance to the punishing sanctions put on Russia’s economy.
FINANCIAL TIMES: US claims Russia has asked China for military help in invasion of Ukraine
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After being questioned by CNN about the story of Russia’s demand for military assistance, Liu Pengyu, spokeswoman for the Chinese consulate in the United States, commented in a statement, “I’d never heard of it before.
The situation in Ukraine, which Liu described as “truly disturbing,” prompted him to voice worry. He said China provided and would continue to give international relief to Russia.
Zhao Lijian, a spokeswoman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, accused the United States on Monday of “purveying falsehoods.”
The Russian consulate in the United States did not immediately reply to a request for comment from CNN for comment.
On CNN, Dana Bash asked Sullivan about China’s backing for Russia, which Sullivan described as a “worry.”
For anyone who's in doubt, the difference between Russia asking for arms from China and Ukraine getting arms from NATO is that one of them is asking for assistance with waging a war of aggression, the other one is asking for help to defend itself against a superpower.
— Benedict Barclay (@BarclayBenedict) March 13, 2022
“We are also keeping a careful eye on China to see whether it is providing any type of assistance to Russia, whether it is material assistance or economic assistance,” the statement said.
Sullivan said, “we have indicated to China we could not sit by and enable any nation to pay Russia for the damages it has suffered from the economic sanctions.”
According to reports, Russia escalated its onslaught in Ukraine, firing rockets near the city of Lviv, striking a big military facility near the Polish border, and inflicting scores of deaths as the conflict moved closer to NATO-controlled territory.
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Ukraine’s Minister of Defense, Oleksii Reznikov, condemned the incident as a “terrorist assault” on peace and security “in the vicinity of the EU-NATO border.”
Local officials said 35 people have been killed and 134 others were wounded at the military camp.
Americans, especially Jen Psaki, have become increasingly critical of China’s stance on Russia’s conflict in Ukraine in recent months.
Chinese internal media has encouraged Russian disinformation tactics and labeled the battle as just a “special military operation,” even as Beijing seems to be attempting to maintain a neutral position in the world arena.
Psaki also tweeted, on Wednesday, China “appears to have accepted” erroneous Russian assertions that the United States is developing chemical weapons in Ukraine, according to Reuters.
