Since the beginning of the war, Moscow has repeatedly asked Beijing for more support. The Washington Post citing sources in China and the United States. According to the newspaper, Chinese President Xi Jinping has instructed his advisers to find ways to help Russia – but in a way that does not incur Western sanctions.
The publication’s sources declined to disclose details of Russia’s requests, noting that they included maintaining “trade obligations” until the outbreak of war in Ukraine on February 24, as well as financial and technological support, which was blocked by the United States and other countries.
One Chinese official familiar with the talks described them as “tense.” Beijing is in a difficult situation as it seeks to help its important strategic partner, but in a way that does not hurt itself: “We understand the predicament [России]but we cannot ignore our own situation. China will always act in the interests of the Chinese people.”
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The PRC provides Russia with support at the diplomatic level – publicly blaming the conflict on the United States, calling the sanctions “illegal”, and China usually abstains when voting at the UN. In Moscow, according to The Washington Post, such support is considered insufficient.
At the same time, one of the interlocutors of the publication said that the war in Ukraine dragged on longer than China expected. Beijing made it clear that the cessation of fighting “will give more freedom to resist sanctions and develop business ties.”
In early March, US President Joe Biden discussed the war in Ukraine with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Earlier in Washington, they said that Russia had asked China for help, and warned Beijing that such a move would be followed by measures from the West. Olga Kamenchuk, professor at the Institute for Political Analysis at Northwestern University in Illinois, commented on the US-China talks in the context of the war in Ukraine to Present Time:
