In a split with Britain, U.S. national-security adviser Jake Sullivan said he had not seen evidence that China was directly sending lethal military assistance to Russia for its war against Ukraine.
British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said on May 22 that there was evidence that “lethal aid is now, or will be, flowing from China to Russia and into Ukraine.”
That claim, however, was contradicted by Sullivan hours later when he seemed to take issue with Shapps’ comments, saying that Washington did not share the assessment.
SEE ALSO: Britain Accuses China Of Working To Provide Russia With 'Lethal Aid'“We have not seen that to date. I look forward to speaking with the U.K. to make sure that we have a common operating picture,” Sullivan told reporters.
Shapp’s accusation, which was provided without evidence or details, made headlines when it appeared to indicate that Beijing had stepped up its level of support for Moscow by sending weapons, ammunition, and other lethal aid to Russia.
“Today I can reveal that we have evidence that Russia and China are collaborating on combat equipment for use in Ukraine,” Shapps said during his speech at the London Defense Conference.
“This is new intelligence which leads me to be able to declassify and reveal this fact today. I think it’s quite significant,” he added.
SEE ALSO: China In Eurasia Briefing: Can The China-Russia Partnership Outlast Xi And Putin?But Sullivan’s comments show that this assessment is not shared by the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden.
The U.S. national-security adviser said the possibility that China might “provide weapons directly – lethal assistance – to Russia” had been a concern earlier but said that it had not taken place.
Washington, Sullivan added, did have a “concern about what China’s doing to fuel Russia’s war machine, not giving weapons directly, but providing inputs to Russia’s defense industrial base.”
The United States has previously accused China of helping Russia with technology and sending militarily useful but nonlethal dual-use goods that have helped Russian forces on the battlefield, but stopped short of saying that Beijing was directly supplying arms.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping welcomed Russian President Vladimir Putin to Beijing in mid-May, where the two leaders put on a strong show of unity.
China has supported Russia economically through trade and purchasing oil and gas, and senior U.S. officials have said Beijing’s supply of dual-use goods has had a decisive impact in helping Moscow on the battlefield in Ukraine.
Independent analyses of Chinese customs data and a U.S. intelligence assessment show that in 2023 some 90 percent of “high-priority” dual-use goods used in Russian weapons production were imported from China.
Beijing has previously denied providing actual weapons and ammunition for Russia's war effort.
The Chinese Embassy in London told Reuters that Shapps’ comments were “totally groundless” and accused Britain of spreading “baseless accusations.”