Bidens nasjonale sikkerhetsrådgiver Jake Sullivan advarte søndag Kina mot å ta Russlands parti økonomisk. Kina har allerede støttet Russland diplomatisk, og Sullivan sa at Kina var klar over på forhånd at Putin planla noe.

«We believe that China, in fact, was aware before the invasion took place that Vladimir Putin was planning something,» Sullivan responded. «They may not have known the full extent of it, because it’s very possible that Putin lied to them in the same way he lied to Europeans and others. We also are watching closely to see the extent to which China actually does provide any form of support, material support or economic support to Russia.»

Sullivan fikk spørsmål om hvorvidt det kunne være aktuelt å innføre sanksjoner mot Kina, men det ville han ikke svare på.

«It is a concern of ours,» he continued, «and we have communicated to Beijing that we will not stand by and allow any country to compensate Russia for its losses from the economic sanctions.»

Sullivan would not say whether the U.S. would sanction China if it were found to have aided the Russian invasion.

«I’m not going to sit here publicly and brandish threats,» he said, «but what I will tell you is that we are communicating directly, privately to Beijing that there will absolutely be consequences for large scale sanctions evasion efforts or support to Russia to backfill them. We will not allow that to go forward and allow there to be a lifeline to Russia from these economic sanctions from any country anywhere in the world.»

Sullivan bruker uttrykket «storstilte omgåelser», det er altså omfanget det kommer an på.

Men Kina krysset allerede den røde gransen da det sist uke sa at det står last og brast med Russland.

Unlike the U.S. and Europe, China has declined to sanction Russia for its invasion of Ukraine and declared last week that Russia remains its «most important strategic partner.»

Kina har allerede bevist at det gir blaffen i sanksjonene.

One day after the invasion, China lifted its restrictions on Russian wheat imports to help ease the impact of the sanctions.

Likevel har EUs Borrell snakket høyt om at Kina må komme på banen som mekler.

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

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