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The United States has very clearly expressed to China its concern about its economic support for Russia's military industry and expects constructive steps from the Chinese side, but in the absence of Beijing's response, it is ready to apply restrictive measures.
This was stated by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken at a media briefing at the end of his visit to the People's Republic of China, reports Ukrinform with reference to the State Department.
"When it comes to China's support of Russia's military-industrial base, all I can say is that I have made our concerns very clear and now it remains to be seen what action will follow," Blinken said.
In his opinion, China has demonstrated in the past that it can take constructive actions when it comes to Russia and Ukraine.
"Remember, more than a year ago, we were all concerned that Russia was considering the possibility of using nuclear weapons (in the war against Ukraine - ed.), and I believe that China's voice at that time was one of the most important in dissuading Russia from such likely step," the state secretary noted.
According to him, at the G7 meetings last week and before that in NATO, the allies expressed the greatest concern about China's supply of components for the Russian military industrial complex, thanks to which the Russians manage to increase the production of weapons and ammunition and not only continue the war against Ukraine, but also threaten the whole of Europe.
"We all hope that China will take steps to control and contain these actions, but we are also, as I said, looking at the steps that we are fully prepared to take if we don't see change," Blinken said.
He added that the United States has already imposed sanctions on more than a hundred Chinese organizations involved in trade with Russia in dual-use goods and has strengthened export controls to prevent such products from entering the Russian Federation.
"We are fully prepared to act, to take additional measures, and I have made this very clear in my meetings with Chinese leaders," the top American diplomat said.
