(Washington) The United States is “deeply concerned” about China’s “alignment with Russia” position in the face of the war in Ukraine, a senior White House official said Monday, after a high-level meeting level in Rome which has therefore in no way lowered the tension.
Posted at 4:07 p.m.
The discussion led by US national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Yang Jiechi, the Chinese Communist Party’s top diplomat, lasted seven hours, she said, calling it “intense”. and “very frank”.
The White House issued a statement referring to a “substantial discussion about Russia’s war against Ukraine”, and stressing “the importance of maintaining open lines of communication between the United States and China”. .
The senior official, who requested anonymity, however assured that the meeting itself had been in preparation since December.
She did not wish to comment on information that has circulated widely in the American press, according to which Moscow has asked Beijing to provide it with its economic and military aid to carry out the invasion of Ukraine.
Russia, which is preparing for a default, denied it, while China blamed the Americans for spreading “fake news”.
On Sunday, Jake Sullivan issued a warning to Beijing, saying in an interview with CNN: “We let Beijing know that we will not sit back and let any country compensate for Russia’s losses from economic sanctions. »
PHOTO JONATHAN ERNST, REUTERS ARCHIVES
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan
But the United States has so far not specified what Chinese actions might draw a U.S. response, or what form that response might take.
Washington has also blamed China for helping to spread Russian “lies” about alleged US biological and chemical weapons labs in Ukraine.
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion on February 24, the Chinese communist regime, prioritizing its relationship with Moscow, and sharing with Russia a deep hostility towards the United States, has refrained from calling on Russian President Vladimir Putin to withdraw its troops from Ukraine.
But the “boundless friendship” professed by Beijing is being tested by the war in Ukraine.
The regime of President Xi Jinping indeed seems to have been surprised by Ukrainian resistance to the Russian offensive and by the vigor of Western sanctions.