RUSSIA has asked China for economic and military aid for its war in Ukraine, reported US media yesterday, hours after the White House warned Beijing will face severe “consequences” if it helps Moscow evade sanctions.

US officials told media that Russia requested military equipment and support from its key ally.

Moscow also asked Beijing for economic assistance against the crippling sanctions imposed against it by most of the Western world, said the New York Times, again citing anonymous officials.

The officials declined to explain what Russia requested or whether China responded.

A Chinese embassy in Washington spokesman told multiple outlets that “I have never heard of that” when asked about the alleged requests.

The reports come just a few hours after the White House announced that a high-level US delegation will meet with a top Chinese official in Rome today.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan and Yang Jiechi, the Chinese Communist Party’s chief diplomat, “will discuss ongoing efforts to manage the competition between our two countries and discuss the impact of Russia’s war against Ukraine on regional and global security”, said National Security Council spokesman Emily Horne yesterday.

Beijing has declined to directly condemn Moscow for launching its invasion, and repeatedly blamed Nato’s “eastward expansion” for worsening tensions between Russia and Ukraine, echoing the Kremlin’s prime security grievance.

Sullivan made a round of Sunday talk shows to say the White House is “closely watching” to see whether China provides material or economic support to Russia to help it evade the punishing impact of sanctions.

“It is a concern of ours, and we have communicated to Beijing that we will not stand by and allow any country to compensate Russia for its losses from the economic sanctions,” he said on CNN’s State of the Union show.

Sullivan said while he does not wish to “brandish threats” against major economic rival China, “we are communicating directly, privately to Beijing that there will absolutely be consequences for large-scale sanctions-evasion efforts”.

Beijing this past week said its friendship with Russia remains “rock solid” despite international condemnation of Moscow, and has expressed an openness to help mediate an end to the war. – AFP, March 14, 2022.