The United States warned China after “intense” talks on Monday against helping Moscow in its invasion of Ukraine, while an anti-war protester interrupted Russian state TV news in an extraordinary act of dissent.
Moscow has not captured any of the 10 biggest cities in Ukraine since beginning its incursion on Feb. 24, the most significant attack on a European state since World War Two.
It calls its actions a “special military operation” to “denazify” the country and has asked for military and economic aid from Beijing, according to U.S. officials.
China had signalled willingness to provide aid to Russia, a U.S. official said, as national security adviser Jake Sullivan met with China’s top diplomat Yang Jiechi in Rome.
“We have communicated very clearly to Beijing that we won’t stand by,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters on Monday. “We will not allow any country to compensate Russia for its losses.”
The West is weighing how to deal with any involvement from China, top global exporter and No.1 foreign supplier of goods to Americans.
In Russia, a rare anti-war protest occurred in a studio during the main news programme on state TV’s Channel One, which is the primary source of news for millions of Russians and closely follows the Kremlin line.
