Chinese military aid to Russia ‘would be a game changer,’ says U.S. envoy to the United Nations
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield speaks to the media after a meeting of the U.N. Security Council on the situation between Russia and Ukraine, at the United Nations Headquarters in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., February 17, 2022.
Carlo Allegri | Reuters
If China goes ahead with reported plans to send lethal weapons aid to Russia, that “would be a game changer” in the bilateral relationship between Washington and Beijing, said Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
Thomas-Greenfield is the latest U.S. official to sound the alarm this week, after intelligence showed China was leaning towards providing the battered Russian army with drones and potentially ammunition.
“We’ve made clear that that is unacceptable, that [China] cannot engage in with the aggressor on this war. And Russia is the aggressor,” Thomas-Greenfield told NBC News’ Andrea Mitchell.
She said the same message was delivered “from President Biden to President Xi,” and from Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the recent Munich Security Conference.
On Thursday, Beijing released what it called a 12-point peace plan for the Russia-Ukraine war. It calls for negotiations toward a ceasefire and the lifting of Western sanctions against Russia.
Thomas-Greenfield was skeptical of the plan, and of Beijing’s broader goals.
“If China is truly interested in peace, they have to act and behave like a country that wants peace,” she said.
— Christina Wilkie
Russia suspended from the international Financial Action Task Force in a historic first
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier by the Kremlin Wall on the Defender of the Fatherland Day in Moscow, Russia, February 23, 2023.
Mikhail Metzel | Sputnik | via Reuters
The International Financial Action Task Force, the…
Read the full article here
