US President Joe Biden assured this Friday that China was not “supplying” weapons to Russia, one of Western countries’ biggest concerns.
“I’ve been hearing for three months now that China is going to supply Russia with significant weapons. That doesn’t mean they won’t, but they still haven’t.”said the US president during a visit to Canada quoted by the French news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“I don’t take China lightly. I don’t take Russia lightly”he added, as reports of rapprochement between the two countries were likely “exaggerated”.
On the other hand, Joe Biden pointed to the increasingly strong bond between Western countries: “If anything has happened, it is that the West has tightened up considerably”he said, referring to a “united” coalition.
This week, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Moscow, a meeting where Russians and Chinese welcomed the entry into a “new era” of their “special relationship”.
The Chinese leader promised moral support and a trade line, but refrained from supplying weapons to Russian soldiers in Ukraine, not least because such action could lead to Western sanctions.
There was also no long-term commitment to buying large quantities of Russian gas, exports of which to Europe have fallen, leaving a hole in Russian finances.
Source: DN
