Despite the assurances of the heads of American and Chinese diplomacy that their countries do not seek new cold warAmerican officials warn that China is preparing to supply Russia with weapons and ammunition for the war in Ukraine.

The president Joe Bidenfor his part, stressed to the Chinese leader, Xi Jinpingthat any such move would have serious and long-term consequences. Entering China into the war in Ukraine in this way would change the facts, turning the conflict into a conflict between three superpowers and their allies: Russia, China, Iran and North Korea on the one hand and the US, Ukraine and the Europeans and their Asian allies on the other.

Repeated US Foreign Office Warnings Anthony Blinken This weekend proves that the Biden administration believes Beijing is close to that decision. The fact that Blinken raised the issue publicly highlights how desperately the US is trying to talk Xi out of military support for Russia.

“Unconditional” cooperation

The US Secretary of State said that Beijing is preparing to send weapons to Moscow for the war in Ukraine.

In an interview with the CBS network on Sunday, the US secretary of state said that Chinese aid to Russia would concern weapons and ammunition, but did not disclose the source of this information. Last February, shortly before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Moscow and Beijing signed a 5,000-word joint declaration in which the two countries declared their “unconditional” cooperation.

The US tried to dissuade China from military aid to Russia by leaking classified information, which put any Chinese initiative to aid Russia under the international microscope. In March 2022, US officials told reporters that Russia had turned to China for help. The news was leaked days before U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met with then-chief of Chinese diplomacy Yang Jiechi in Rome.

Blinken’s public comments this weekend are yet another attempt to discourage China by leaking classified information. On Saturday, Vice President Kamala Harris also warned China not to support Russia, and US officials said they had already provided this information to allies.

China is said to have strengthened its relationship with Russia, as evidenced by statements by a Chinese diplomat in Munich on Saturday: “China is ready to work with Russia to advance our strategic partnership.” The head of Chinese diplomacy, Wang Yi, arrived in Moscow yesterday for the last stop on his European tour. Russian diplomats, for their part, say Chinese President Xi will visit their country within a year. In recent public statements, Western diplomats have revealed that the issue of Chinese defense assistance to Russia has been at the center of all their discussions with Mr. Yi at every stop on his European tour. American and some European officials believe that Beijing is trying to appear as an impartial mediator in the Ukraine crisis, when in fact it is one step away from exporting weapons systems to Russia. Atlantic Council analyst Barry Pavel explains that Xi was preparing to give a “particularly troubling speech in which he will explain why China will help Russia militarily, as well as what a future peace plan for Ukraine would look like in order to speed things up.”