WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden said Friday (Feb 24) that he does not “anticipate a major initiative” from China to provide weapons to Russia in its war against Ukraine.
His comments come days after Secretary of State Antony Blinken told CBS that China was “considering providing lethal support” to Moscow ranging “from ammunition to the weapons themselves” – which Beijing denied.
In a wide-ranging television interview with ABC News – covering his bid for re-election and the war in Ukraine – that aired Friday evening, Biden appeared to backtrack on Blinken’s comments.
“I don’t anticipate – we haven’t seen it yet – but I don’t anticipate a major initiative on the part of China providing weaponry to Russia,” he said.
Biden explained that in a conversation he had with Chinese President Xi Jinping last summer, he made clear what the consequences of providing weapons to Russia would be.
“Without any government prodding, 600 American corporations left Russia – from McDonald’s to Exxon – across the board,” he said he told Xi.
“And I said, ‘If you are engaged in the same kind of brutality, of supporting the brutality that is going on, you may face the same consequences.'”
Source: CNA
