Ukraine crisis: China will not come to Russia’s rescue over sanctions, says US
A senior Biden administration official told the news agency, Sputnik, on Saturday that China is restricting some of its banks to provide credit to facilitate energy purchases from Russia.
The Joe Biden led-administration in the United States has said that China will not come to Russia's rescue over the sanctions imposed by Western countries after Vladimir Putin's launch of a military operation in Ukraine.
A senior Biden administration official told the news agency, Sputnik, on Saturday that China is restricting some of its banks to provide credit to facilitate energy purchases from Russia. "This suggests that much like has been the pattern for years and years, China has tended to respect the force of US sanctions," the official said.
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"The latest time suggests that China's not coming to the rescue," the official also told Sputnik.
China and Russia have been allies. Being a formidable economic partner of Russia, China has supported Moscow's security interests and its opposition to NATO.
It also chose to not dispute Russia's invasion at the recently concluded United Nations Security Council (UNSC) meeting on Ukraine.
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However, at the same time, Beijing is being cautious to not fully endorse Russia's actions.
A slew of harsh financial and economic sanctions have been imposed on Russia after its full-scale attack on Ukraine, which has killed at least 198 civilians.
These sanctions include blocking assets of large Russian banks, imposing export controls along with asset freezes and travel bans on Russian individuals and other measures. Sanctions have also been imposed on the allies of President Vladimir Putin.
On Saturday, the United States, the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom (UK) announced the sanctioning of Russia's Central Bank and blocking the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT).
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The blockage of SWIFT will restrict Russia's access to global financial markets. Additionally, the country heavily relies on SWIFT for its crucial oil and gas exports.
The Ukrainian government, meanwhile, thanked the United States and its allies for the sanctions imposed on Moscow. “Thanks to our friends ... for the commitment to remove several Russian banks from SWIFT and for the paralysis of the assets of the central bank of Russia,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal tweeted early on Sunday.