NATO is seeing signs China might help Russia wage its war, but the US has threatened 'serious consequences' if it does
Johanna Geron/Reuters
- NATO's chief said Wednesday that there are "some signs" China may send lethal aid to Russia.
- The US has repeatedly threatened "serious consequences" if China further involves itself in the war.
- US official believes Russia is "running out of munitions and has lost as much as 50% of its tanks."
NATO's chief said Wednesday that the alliance has seen "some signs" that China plans to send lethal aid to Russia and joined the US in urging Beijing against getting further involved in the war in Ukraine.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told the Associated Press: "We have seen some signs that they may be planning for that and, of course, NATO allies, the United States, have been warning against it because this is something that should not happen. China should not support Russia's illegal war."
Stoltenberg then called the potential of China sending lethal aid a "blatant violation of international law."
It's the latest threat from the West urging China to reconsider its relationship with Russia as the war in Ukraine reaches its one-year anniversary.
Also on Wednesday, US Department of Defense Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said that while China has yet to send lethal aid, "they haven't also taken that off the table."
"We reinforced there that, again, there will be consequences for China should this partnership with Russia further deepen," Singh said. "We're coming to the one-year anniversary just at the end of this week and it would certainly be a miscalculation of China to provide lethal aid to Russia."
Singh's comments echo an earlier statement from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
This past weekend, Blinken told CBS News' "Face the Nation" host Margaret Brennan that he had a conversation with Chinese senior diplomat Wang Yi about the Chinese spy balloon shot down in the US earlier this month and China's involvement in Russia's war in Ukraine.
"And I was able to share with him, as President Biden had shared with President Xi, the serious consequences that would have for our relationship," Blinken said.
Blinken also said that the US has seen China "provide non-lethal support to Russia for use in Ukraine."
"The concern that we have now is based on information we have that they're considering providing lethal support, and we've made very clear to them that that would cause a serious problem for us and in our relationship."
The concerns around China's support of Russia's war come as a senior US official said Tuesday that Russia is struggling to provide military equipment to its forces in Ukraine.
"Russia is also running out of munitions and has lost as much as 50% of its tanks," US Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo, and had to "turn to mothballed Soviet-era weapons."
Contributer : Business Insider https://ift.tt/EplgfmU
Reviewed by mimisabreena
on
Friday, February 24, 2023
Rating:
No comments:
Post a Comment