Washington and its allies under the North Atlantic Treaty Organization were reportedly scrambling to dissuade China from providing military aid to Russia.
Experts report that fears expressed by the west come amid struggling attempts by Moscow to make gains around key objectives in eastern Ukraine, and President Volodymyr Zelenskiyy’s forces are preparing for a counter-offensive that is equipped with advanced Western weapons including battle tanks.
Jake Sullivan, the White House national security adviser gave an exclusive interview to CNN’s “State of the Union” program where he advised Chinese officials to re-think supporting President Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation.”
“Beijing will have to make its own decisions about how it proceeds, where it provides military assistance – but if it goes down that road it will come at real costs to China,” said Sullivan.
During a Group of Twenty (G20) meeting held Saturday in India, Chinese authorities refused to condemn Russia’s attack on Ukraine, instead Beijing published a ceasefire proposal in time for the first anniversary of the war in Eastern Europe, but the offer was met with skepticism by Kyiv’s Western allies.
Boris Pistorius, Germany’s Defence Minister spoke to Deutschlandfunk media agency Sunday where he alleged that China is not matching its actions to its words.
“When I hear reports- and I don’t know whether they are true- according to which China may be planning to supply kamikaze drones to Russia while at the same time presenting a peace plan, then I suggest we judge China by its actions and not its words,” said Pistorius.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin gave an interview to Rossiya 1 state television last Wednesday but was published on Sunday where he said the West is working tirelessly to disband the former Soviet Union.
“They have one goal: to disband the former Soviet Union and its fundamental part- the Russian Federation,” said Putin.
