US consults with allies to counter Chinese aid to Russia

The United States is consulting its closest allies on the possibility of imposing sanctions on China if Beijing provides military support to Moscow in its aggression against Ukraine. This was reported by four members of the Joe Biden administration and other sources.
In still preliminary consultations, the United States wants to enlist the support of a number of countries, notably those of the G7, to coordinate support for possible restrictive measures.
It is not yet known what specific sanctions measures against China will be proposed by Washington. Information about these conversations had not previously been disclosed.
The White House and the US Treasury declined to comment.
Washington and its allies have said in recent weeks that China is considering supplying arms to Russia. No public evidence of this has yet been presented. In China, these claims are denied.
The United States has also explicitly warned China against such action, including during talks between President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, and during a meeting between Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and the top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi on the sidelines of the global security conference in Munich.
The Biden administration’s first steps to counter Chinese support for Russia’s actions in Ukraine included informal contacts at the government and diplomatic levels, including the Treasury Department, people familiar with the matter said.
The Biden administration is laying the groundwork for possible action against Beijing in concert with its closest allies, sources said.
A government spokesman for one of the countries consulted by Washington said he had so far seen little intelligence to support claims that China was considering military assistance to Russia. However, a White House spokesperson said they were providing their allies with detailed intelligence reports.
China’s role in the Russia-Ukraine war is expected to be one of the topics of Biden’s meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the White House on Friday. Ahead of that, foreign ministers from various countries including Russia, China and the United States will discuss the war in New Delhi on Wednesday and Thursday.
Washington’s idea of ​​imposing sanctions has yet to lead to broad agreement on specific measures, the sources said.
A source said the administration first wanted to raise the idea of ​​coordinated sanctions and “feel the pulse” of any shipments to Russia from China, which announced a “borderless” partnership shortly before the invasion of Russia. February 2022.
The conflict in Ukraine has turned into a protracted war. As Russia runs out of ammunition, Ukraine and its allies fear supplies from China could tip the balance of power in Russia’s favor.
In this regard, Washington obtained wording in the February 24 G7 statement on the first anniversary of the war, which called on “third countries” to “stop providing material support to Russia’s war “. At the same time, the resolution promises “significant costs” if such assistance is provided.
“We have tried to express very clearly, both privately in Munich and publicly, our concerns,” Daniel Kritenbrink, senior US diplomat in charge of East Asia at the Department of Foreign Affairs, told Congress this week. State. We talked about the consequences if they do. And we also know that many of our like-minded partners share these concerns. »