Jake Sullivan says ‘there will absolutely be consequences’ if China aids Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

President Biden’s nationwide safety adviser Jake Sullivan stated Sunday that China will “completely” face penalties if it economically helps Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Throughout an look on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Sullivan sidestepped a query by anchor Dana Bash about whether or not he thought-about Chinese language President Xi Jinping a “co-conspirator” in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s warfare on Ukraine, however in the end stated the connection between the 2 authoritarian international locations was a “concern.”

CHINA WARNS OF ‘WORST CONSEQUENCES’ FOR ANY COUNTRY THAT SUPPORTS TAIWAN MILITARY

“We consider that China, actually, was conscious earlier than the invasion occurred that Vladimir Putin was planning one thing,” Sullivan responded. “They might not have identified the total extent of it, as a result of it’s very doable that Putin lied to them in the identical approach he lied to Europeans and others. We are also watching carefully to see the extent to which China truly does present any type of help, materials help or financial help to Russia.”

“It’s a concern of ours,” he continued, “and we’ve got communicated to Beijing that we are going to not stand by and permit any nation to compensate Russia for its losses from the financial sanctions.”

Sullivan wouldn’t say whether or not the U.S. would sanction China if it have been discovered to have aided the Russian invasion.

“I’m not going to take a seat right here publicly and brandish threats,” he stated, “however what I’ll inform you is that we’re speaking immediately, privately to Beijing that there’ll completely be penalties for big scale sanctions evasion efforts or help to Russia to backfill them. We won’t permit that to go ahead and permit there to be a lifeline to Russia from these financial sanctions from any nation anyplace on the earth.”

In contrast to the U.S. and Europe, China has declined to sanction Russia for its invasion of Ukraine and declared final week that Russia stays its “most vital strategic associate.”

Chinese language President Xi Jinping stands in entrance of nationwide flags of China and Republic of Congo throughout a gathering with visting Congolese dignitaries on the Nice Corridor of the Folks in Beijing, China, Tuesday, July 5, 2016.
(AP Picture/Ng Han Guan, Pool, File)

A Western intelligence report earlier this month confirmed that Chinese language officers had at the very least some data of Russia’s plan to invade Ukraine. The report detailed that Chinese language officers known as on Russia to place off the invasion of Ukraine till after the Olympics in Beijing. China has denied the report as “hypothesis.” 

The Olympics concluded on Feb. 20 and Russian troops invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. At some point after the invasion, China lifted its restrictions on Russian wheat imports to assist ease the affect of the sanctions.  

Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes palms together with his Chinese language counterpart Xi Jinping on the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, June 5, 2019.
(REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina/Pool)

Republican Rep. Younger Kim of California and Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan final week launched a bipartisan invoice, known as the DICTATOR Act, that will require a State Division investigation into the extent to which the Chinese language authorities has supported Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“Whereas the US, NATO allies and different nations have taken steps to carry Vladimir Putin accountable for his unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and to offer help to the Ukrainian folks as they defend their freedoms, silence and deference from the Folks’s Republic of China towards the Russian Federation can’t be ignored,” Rep. Kim stated in a press release asserting the invoice.

In the meantime, China’s authorities on Saturday reportedly warned that any nation supporting Taiwan’s militarily would face the “worst penalties,” and that “nobody and no pressure” would have the ability to cease the Communist Celebration if it took motion in opposition to the island nation.