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US fears China may provide Russia with lethal weapons – Blinken

US Secretary of State warns Beijing of "serious consequences in relations" with Washington if such assistance is provided to Moscow

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken EPA-EFE/MICHAEL REYNOLDS

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken

© EPA-EFE/MICHAEL REYNOLDS

NEW YORK, February 19. /TASS/. The United States fears that China is allegedly considering giving Russia lethal weapons, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told NBC in an interview, a fragment of which was broadcast on Sunday.

According to Blinken, in a conversation with Chinese State Councilor and Director of the CCP Central Foreign Affairs Office Wang Yi, he "had an opportunity <..> to share our [the US’] very real concerns about China’s support for Russia." "What we’ve seen over the past years is, of course, some political and rhetorical support, even some non-lethal support. But we’re very concerned that China’s considering providing lethal support to Russia," the US Secretary of State said.

He said that providing "lethal support" to Russia would have "serious consequences [for Beijing] in our [China-US] relationship". He also recalled that this was something that "President [Joe] Biden shared with [Chinese] President Xi [Jinping] on several occasions".

In late January, John Kirby, Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the US National Security Council, said that the United States urged China not to support Russia's special military operation in Ukraine. According to him, Washington intended to take action against those companies, including the Chinese ones, that violated the US sanctions regime against Moscow.

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China United States Antony Blinken

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