RUSSIA is said to have asked China for HELP after invading Ukraine last month, raising fears of World War Three.
Following its February 24 invasion, Vladimir Putin’s forces are believed to have requested military equipment and assistance from Chinese President Xi Jinping.
According to the New York Times, several US officials have since stated that Beijing could undermine Western efforts to assist Ukraine.
And, ahead of a meeting with China’s top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, on Monday, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Washington believed China knew Russia was planning to invade Ukraine before it did.
He also warned Beijing that if it offered Russia assistance, it would “absolutely” face consequences.
“We are communicating directly, privately to Beijing that there will absolutely be consequences for large-scale sanctions evasion efforts or support to Russia to backfill them,” Sullivan told CNN.
“We will not allow that to happen, and we will not allow any country, anywhere in the world, to provide a lifeline to Russia through economic sanctions.”
Nato has stayed out of the conflict so far, fearing a major escalation into a global conflict after Joe Biden warned of “World War Three,” adding that a direct conflict between Russia and Nato would be disastrous.
However, senior Moscow diplomat Sergei Ryabkov has already warned that Russia may target Western military equipment shipments to Ukraine.
According to The Telegraph, the US has threatened Russia with Nato’s “full force” if attacks on Ukraine extend beyond the country’s borders.
“If there is a military attack on Nato territory, it would… bring the full force of the Nato alliance to bear in responding to it,” Mr. Sullivan said.
Earlier today, a Russian airstrike just 12 miles from the Polish border killed at least 35 people by bombing a base where foreign instructors were assisting Ukrainians.
Michael Gove, a Cabinet Office minister, described the attack on the Yavoriv base, known as the International Centre for Peacekeeping and Security, as a “significant” development in the war.
He then warned Putin that he was “pushing the boundaries” and accused the warmongering leader of having “no moral limits.”
It comes after American journalist Brent Renaud was reportedly killed while fleeing Russian soldiers who opened fire on him after he stumbled across their checkpoint in Ukraine.
Mr. Sullivan told CBS News that his government was investigating how the journalist died before imposing “appropriate consequences.”
He claimed that Russian troops had demonstrated “brazen aggression” by targeting civilians, hospitals, and places of worship, as well as “targeting journalists.”
