The US has information suggesting China has expressed some openness to providing Russia with requested military and financial assistance as part of its war on Ukraine, a Western official and a US diplomat told CNN, and is conveying what it knows to its NATO allies.
It is not yet clear whether China intends to provide Russia with that assistance, US officials familiar with the intelligence told CNN. But during an intense, seven-hour meeting in Rome, a top aide to President Joe Biden warned his Chinese counterpart of "potential implications and consequences" for China should support for Russia be forthcoming, a senior administration official said.
The series of events underscored the growing concern among American officials at the budding partnership between Moscow and Beijing as Biden works to isolate and punish Russia for its aggression in Ukraine. While officials have said the Chinese President was alarmed at what has taken place since Russia invaded, there is little to indicate China is prepared to cut off its support entirely.
That leaves open a troubling possibility for American officials -- that China may help prolong a bloody conflict that is increasingly killing civilians, while also cementing an authoritarian alliance in direct competition with the United States.
In a diplomatic cable, the US relayed to its allies in Europe and Asia that China had conveyed a willingness to assist Russia, which has asked for military support. The cable did not state definitively that assistance had been provided. One official also said the US warned in the cable that China would likely deny it was willing to provide assistance.
Among the assistance Russia requested was pre-packaged, non-perishable military food kits, known in the US as "meal, ready-to-eat," or MREs, according to two sources familiar with the matter. The request underscores the basic logistical challenges that military analysts and officials say have stymied Russian progress in Ukraine -- and raises questions about the fundamental readiness of the Russian military.
Forward-deployed units have routinely outstripped their supply convoys and open source reports have shown Russian troops breaking into grocery stores in search of food as the invasion has progressed. One of the sources suggested that food might be a request that China would be willing to meet because it stops short of lethal assistance that would be seen as deeply provocative by the west.
The Chinese Communist Party leadership is not all in agreement regarding how to respond to Russia's request for assistance, said one of the sources. Two officials said that China's desire to avoid economic consequences may limit its appetite to help Russia. Officials separately told CNN that Chinese President Xi Jinping has been unnerved by how the war in Ukraine has reinvigorated the NATO alliance.
"There is real concern by some that their involvement could hurt economic relationships with the West, on which China relies," said one of the sources. Officials are also monitoring whether China provides some economic and diplomatic relief for Russia in other forms, like abstention votes at the United Nations.
In Rome, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan and a US delegation who met with top Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi "raised directly and very clearly" concerns about Chinese "support to Russia in the wake of the invasion, and the implications that any such support would have for" China's relationship with the US and partners around the world, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said.
"That includes allies and partners in Europe and the Indo-Pacific," Price said at a State Department briefing Monday. Concerns over China's potential involvement in the war came as bombardments intensified in Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, and Russia's military campaign moved westward. Still, there remained signs that Russia's armed forces are being hampered by Ukrainian fighters, underscoring Russia's need for outside assistance.
Ukrainian forces have "effectively struck Russian logistics and sustainment capabilities" in the war, a senior US defense official told reporters on Monday. And the US does not believe Russia's missile strikes on a Ukrainian military training center in western Ukraine will affect American efforts to provide weapons shipments to that country's military.
Biden, who is working to rally international support for Ukraine, could travel to Europe soon to further consult with allies there, people familiar with the plans said, though as of Monday no trip had been finalized. His administration is also considering expediting the resettlement of Ukrainian refugees with US ties. The US President may face increased pressure to assist displaced Ukrainians soon -- the nation's President, Volodymyr Zelensky, plans to virtually address a joint session of Congress on Wednesday.
Source: CNN
