U.S. State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel cautioned China during a press conference in Washington DC, stating that it couldn’t ‘have its cake and eat it’ concerning its relationships with the West and Russia.
“The People’s Republic of China can’t have its cake and eat it too. You can’t have it in both ways, you can’t want to have good, further, stronger, deeper relationships with Europe and other countries [while] simultaneously continuing to fuel the biggest threat to European security in a long time,” said Vedant Patel, Spokesperson, US State Department.
Patel underscored that partners from G7, NATO, and the EU shared Washington’s position towards Beijing.
His comments came after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s official visit to China on Wednesday to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping, marking his first foreign trip since re-election.
“Fueling Russia’s defense industrial base, as the People’s Republic of China has, not only threatens Ukrainian security, it threatens European security, and Beijing can’t achieve better relations with Europe while also continuing to support something like that,” Patel added.
To recall, Putin thanked Xi Jinping for China’s proposals on ending the Ukraine war, which Ukraine and Western supporters largely rejected as aligned with the Kremlin’s stance.
“We are grateful for the initiative of our Chinese colleagues and friends to regulate the situation,” stated Vladimir Putin, Russian President.
Last year, China proposed a general plan to end the Ukraine war without specifying how it would engage with both sides.
But for the U.S. the solution is:
“From our point of view, the solution is simple: The Russian Federation can just leave Ukraine. It can leave the territories that it’s in Ukraine, it can leave Crimea and we’ll have our peaceful solution,” Patel added.
Beijing has emerged as a lifeline for Moscow, as Western sanctions over the war in Ukraine have significantly reduced its access to international trade.
Meanwhile, last month, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken cautioned that although Beijing wasn’t directly sending weapons to Russia, it was providing Moscow with ‘dual-use items.’ These items were being used to enhance Russia’s defense industrial base.
Both China and Russia accused Washington of trying to interfere with legitimate trade.
