The CIA director said Sunday that he strongly believes China is considering supplying weapons to Russia in its offensive in Ukraine.
“The Chinese leadership is considering supplying dangerous goods to Russia,” William Burns said in an interview with CBS.
But he added that a final decision did not appear to have been made, nor did he have evidence that Russia had supplied arms.
For a week, the United States has accused China of considering supplying Russia with weapons to support an attack on Ukraine, which Beijing has denied.
According to press reports, including the “Wall Street Journal”, they will be specifically ‘drones’ and munitions.
US diplomatic chief Anthony Blinken made this point directly to the most senior Chinese diplomat, Wang Yi, during a tense meeting on the sidelines of a security conference in Munich last Saturday.
Washington believes that China is already supplying Russia with dangerous goods through Chinese companies.
For his part, National Security Adviser Jack Sullivan today assured CNN that the US remains vigilant on the matter and reaffirmed Washington’s warning to Beijing about the consequences of arms supplies to Moscow.
He said sending military aid to Russia at this time is a big mistake and will continue to send a firm message that China should not do so.
According to Sullivan, the war in Ukraine causes “serious problems” for the Chinese, but if Beijing decides to supply Moscow with weapons, it will create “real costs”.
China called for a ceasefire on Friday, the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and argued in a 12-point proposal that dialogue was the only way to reach a viable solution to the conflict.
A plan released by China’s foreign ministry included Western sanctions on Russia, measures to ensure the safety of nuclear power plants, the establishment of humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians and measures to guarantee grain exports, after supply disruptions, which sent prices higher around the world.
The plan has been discredited by most Western countries, pointing to China’s closeness to the Kremlin, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has acknowledged meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, recalling that China “respects the territorial integrity” of the countries and “must do everything possible”. Get Russia out of Ukraine.
In an interview with Lusa on Friday, the foreign minister advocated China’s balancing act over the conflict in Ukraine and a review of relations with Portugal and the European Union if it supplies arms to Russia. Beijing.
Over the past year, China has avoided condemning Russia for its military campaign in Ukraine, accusing NATO and the United States of provoking the conflict and “not taking into account” Moscow’s legitimate security concerns.
The military offensive launched by Russia in Ukraine on February 24, 2022 has so far displaced more than 14 million people — 6.5 million internally and more than eight million to European countries — according to the latest UN data. , the refugee crisis ranks as the worst in Europe since World War II (1939-1945).
At least 18 million Ukrainians are in need of humanitarian assistance and 9.3 million are in need of food aid and housing.
The Russian invasion — justified by Russian President Vladimir Putin as the need to “denazify” and militarize Ukraine for Russia’s security — was generally condemned by the international community, which retaliated by sending arms to Ukraine and imposing sanctions on Russia. Political and economic barriers.
Since the start of the war, exactly one year ago, 8,006 civilians have died and 13,287 have been injured, underscoring that these numbers are much lower than the real numbers.
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