US claims Russia has asked China for military help in invasion of Ukraine

Russia has requested China for army ​tools to ​assist its invasion of Ukraine, ​in response to US officers, sparking concern in ​the White Home that Beijing ​could undermine western efforts to assist Ukrainian forces defend their nation.

US officers advised the Monetary Instances that Russia had requested army tools and different help because the begin of the invasion. They declined to provide particulars about what Russia had requested.

One other individual acquainted with the scenario stated the US was making ready to warn its allies, amid some indications that China could also be making ready to assist Russia. Different US officers have stated there have been indicators that Russia was operating out of some sorts of weaponry because the conflict in Ukraine extends into its third week.

The White Home didn’t remark. The Chinese language embassy in Washington didn’t reply to a request for a remark.

The revelation comes as Jake Sullivan, US nationwide safety adviser, heads to Rome for talks on Monday with Yang Jiechi, China’s prime overseas coverage official.

Earlier than leaving Washington on Sunday, Sullivan warned China to not attempt to “bail out” Russia by serving to Moscow to avoid the sanctions that the US and its allies have imposed on President Vladimir Putin and his regime.

“We will make sure that neither China, nor anybody else, can compensate Russia for these losses,” Sullivan advised NBC tv on Sunday. “When it comes to the precise technique of doing that, once more, I’m not going to put all of that out in public, however we are going to talk that privately to China, as we’ve already achieved and can proceed to do.”

The request for tools and different kinds of unspecified army help comes because the Russian army struggles to make as a lot progress in Ukraine as western intelligence imagine they anticipated.

It additionally raises contemporary questions concerning the China-Russia relationship, which has grown more and more robust as each international locations categorical their opposition to the US over every thing from Nato to sanctions.

China has portrayed itself as a impartial actor within the Ukraine disaster and has refused to sentence Russia for invading the nation. The US has additionally seen no signal that Chinese language president Xi Jinping is keen to place any stress on Putin.

The 2 leaders signed a joint assertion in Beijing final month describing the Beijing-Moscow partnership as having “no limits”, in one other signal that the 2 capitals had been drawing even nearer collectively.

Observe Demetri Sevastopulo on Twitter