ASTANA, February 28. /TASS/: The United States will impose sanctions on China if it helps Russia in the course of its special military operation in Ukraine, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told a joint news conference with his Kazakh counterpart on Tuesday.
According to Blinken, Washington has warned China about the consequences it may face if it provides such assistance. He said that the United States will not hesitate to impose sanctions on Chinese companies and individuals if they violate its anti-Russian sanctions or engage in supporting Russia’s military efforts in any other way.
If China provides lethal weapons to Russia, it will be a "serious problem" for Beijing in its relations with the United States and other world countries.
"China can't have it both ways when it comes to Russian aggression in Ukraine," Blinken said, adding that Beijing should not be coming up with peace proposals, while "feeding the flames" started by Moscow.
Blinken claimed on February 18 that China was considering supplying weapons to Russia that would be used in Ukraine. Meanwhile, EU foreign affairs spokesperson Nabila Massrali said several days later that the European Union had "no clear evidence of China providing lethal weapons systems to Russia." Pentagon Spokesperson Patrick Ryder also said that the US military had registered no weapons transfer from China to Russia but did not exclude that China was looking at such an option.
