White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met with a top Chinese diplomat in Rome Monday as the Biden administration warned that any effort by China to aid Russia‘s invasion of Ukraine or to help the Kremlin skirt global economic sanctions would be met with serious repercussions.
Mr. Sullivan’s meeting with senior Communist Party official Yang Jiechi comes as already soaring tensions between the U.S. and China are rising amid growing concern in intelligence and national security circles about coordination between Moscow and Beijing.
A senior White House official described the seven-hour meeting as “intense,” saying it reflected the gravity of the situation.
The official said Mr. Sullivan and his Chinese counterpart discussed a whole range of issues, including the war in Ukraine and North Korea’s missile launches.
The official also declined to say if the U.S. has any evidence that China is interested in or has provided Russia with any financial assistance since its attack on Ukraine, adding that Mr. Sullivan was “direct” about the implications of such actions.
Publicly, China has pushed for diplomacy and cease-fire negotiations to end Russia‘s war in Ukraine, which is nearing its third week.
But China appears to have known beforehand that Russian President Vladimir Putin was likely to invade Ukraine, U.S. officials have said, and Beijing even reportedly asked Mr. Putin to delay the campaign until after the Winter Olympics, which ended Feb. 20 — four days before Mr. Putin began Russia‘s invasion. China‘s state media have largely blamed the U.S. and NATO for provoking the war and have amplified Russian disinformation claims about the fighting.
“We believe China was, in fact, aware before the invasion took place that Vladimir Putin was planning something,” Mr. Sullivan told CNN’S “State of the Union” program on Sunday.
He went on to warn China against any effort to help Russia‘s economy, which is nearing total free fall because of unprecedented Western economic sanctions and the exodus of dozens of major U.S. and European companies.
“I’m not going to sit here publicly and brandish threats, but what I will tell you is 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,” Mr. Sullivan said. “We will not allow that to go forward and allow there to be a lifeline to Russia from any country anywhere in the world.”
There were no immediate reports on how the Chinese took that message in the private meeting in Rome.
For their part, Chinese officials have downplayed their knowledge about the Russian invasion of Ukraine and any efforts by Beijing to prop up Russia‘s economy. Chinese officials on Monday also sidestepped questions about whether Russia has directly asked China for military equipment such as drones.
“Recently the U.S. has been maliciously spreading disinformation targeting China,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters in Beijing Monday. “China’s position on the Ukraine issue is consistent and clear. We have been playing a constructive part in promoting peace talks. The top priority at the moment is for all parties to exercise restraint, cool the situation down instead of adding fuel to the fire, and work for diplomatic settlement rather than further escalate the situation.”
• Jeff Mordock contributed to this report.