US warns China against helping Russia: 'There will be consequences'
The United States on Monday warned China that there would be consequences if it helped Russia ease sanctions imposed on the latter over its invasion of Ukraine.
"There will be consequences for any Chinese support for the Russian side," State Department spokesman Nick Price told a news briefing.
Price revealed that talks between US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and China's top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, in Rome on Monday, "directly" addressed concerns about Beijing's support for Moscow.
"Our team has made clear our concerns to the Chinese side about Russia's support, and we have indicated to Beijing that we will not stand idly by on Moscow's support," Price said.
He stressed that Beijing's support for Russia in its war on Ukraine will have repercussions on China's relations around the world, including with allies and partners of the United States in Europe in the Indo-Pacific.
A brief White House statement after the meeting said that Sullivan raised a range of issues in US-China relations, and there was a deep discussion about Russia's war on Ukraine.
The statement added that the two sides stressed the importance of maintaining open lines of communication between the United States and China.
Earlier Sunday, Sullivan confirmed that the White House was "closely monitoring" the situation to see if China was providing material or economic support to Russia to help mitigate the impact of sanctions.
He pointed out that Washington will not stand idly by, and will not allow any country to compensate Russia for the losses it incurred as a result of economic sanctions.
Sullivan pointed out that his country "is sending a direct message, as well as behind the scenes, to Beijing... that efforts to avoid sanctions on a large scale will certainly have consequences."
This comes at a time when Reuters quoted an official US official on Monday that the United States has informed NATO allies and several Asian countries that China has expressed its willingness to provide military and economic aid to Russia to support its war in Ukraine.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the message, which was sent in a diplomatic cable and handed over by intelligence officials, also indicated that China was expected to deny the plans.
The United States and its allies imposed unprecedented sweeping sanctions on Russia and banned its energy imports, while providing billions of dollars in military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
These countries, individually and collectively, appealed to China, the Gulf states and other countries that did not condemn the Russian invasion to join Russia's isolation from the global economy.
Beijing, Russia's main trading partner, has refused to call its actions an invasion, but last week Chinese President Xi Jinping called for "maximum restraint" in Ukraine after an online meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron.
Trade accounted for about 46 percent of Russia's economy in 2020, mostly with China, Moscow's largest export destination.
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