The USA pointed to concerns about the rapprochement of the positions of Russia and China
The arrival in Moscow of the leading Chinese diplomat Wang Yi shortly before the anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine became another evidence that China continues to grow closer to Russia. This causes concern in Washington, the official representative of the US State Department, Ned Price, said on Wednesday.
“We are concerned that these two countries have a common vision,” Price said, explaining that he meant their vision of an era when large powers could intimidate small countries and borders were redrawn by force. Price noted that Washington cannot yet confirm the delivery of “lethal aid” by China to Russia, but this does not mean that the issue has been removed from the agenda by Beijing and Moscow, Reuters quotes a representative of the State Department.
On February 22, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s chief adviser on foreign policy Wang Yi met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow.
Putin, among other things, talked about new frontiers in relations with Beijing. “Everything is progressive, developing. We are reaching new frontiers,” Putin said verbatim. He noted, in particular, that the trade turnover with China is growing faster than expected, and it will soon be possible to reach the level of 200 billion dollars per hour.
The Russian president also repeated his invitation to visit Moscow. This trip, as The Wall Street Journal reported the other day with reference to sources, may take place in April or early May.
Not so long ago, Washington said that China is studying the possibility of supplying Russia with weapons for the war in Ukraine. This is fraught with the escalation of the conflict into a confrontation between the Russia-China alliance on the one hand and the Ukraine-NATO alliance on the other. The day before, the same The Wall Street Journal wrote about the possible publication by the administration of President Biden of intelligence data that the PRC is indeed considering military support for Russia.
Wang Yi himself – both at the international conference on security issues in Munich last week and in a conversation with Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday (according to the TASS news agency) – indicated Beijing’s desire to contribute to the resolution of the situation in Ukraine by political means, “adhere to an objective and dispassionate position”.
State Department representative Ned Price, when asked on Wednesday about Washington’s possible reaction to China’s delivery of lethal aid to Russia, replied that this would lead to “real consequences” for bilateral relations between the United States and China. Price also mentioned the inevitability of measures against Chinese companies and individuals in case of violation of the sanctions regime, and also pointed to reputational losses for Beijing.
