'No evidence of that so far': US President Biden on China siding with Russia in war with Ukraine
1 min read . Updated: 25 Feb 2023, 10:50 AM IST
PremiumThe Pentagon told reporters that it has not seen China supplying aid to Russia.
There is no evidence that China would side with Russia in its ongoing war against Ukraine, US President Joe Biden has said.
“There’s no evidence of that so far," Biden told reporters on Friday when asked if he is worried that China will side with Russia in the ongoing war.
US President Joe Biden said that he had a long conversation with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping about this in the summer.
“There’s no evidence he’s done it yet," said US President Biden.
The Pentagon told reporters that it has not seen China supplying aid to Russia, reported PTI.
Pentagon's Press Secretary Air Force Brigadier General Pat Ryder said that China, which clearly has advanced capabilities, munitions, has publicly declared its neutrality. He added that to now take a side and would essentially say 'we want to be in the camp that's looking to extinguish Ukraine as a nation'.
US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield told MSNBC in an interview that the Biden Administration has made it clear to China that it should not get involved in this war in the sense of providing lethal weapons to the Russians.
They have been told that it would be a game changer and it would be something the US would have serious concerns about.
“They’ve not done that so far, and we hope that the message to them gets through," she said.
China called Friday for urgent peace talks as it released its plan to end the war in Ukraine.
The United Nations expressed cautious optimism over the Chinese proposals, particularly over the document's call to avoid using nuclear weapons.
Russia reacted positively to Beijing's efforts, while Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky sai Kyiv needed to 'work with China' on approaches to put an end to the year-old war.
Zelensky told reporters he was planning to meet with Xi Jinping after the China called for the peace talks, saying it would "be important for world security."
(With inputs from agencies)