US ‘Watching Very Closely’ for Potential CCP Assistance to Russia’s War in Ukraine

A Russian An-124 Ruslan cargo plane takes off from Hemeimeem air base in Syria, on Dec. 16, 2015. Vadim Savitsky/Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP, File

The United States is monitoring potential efforts by communist China to provide military assistance to Russia for its war in Ukraine or to help the embattled regime dodge international sanctions.

State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said that the United States was laser focused on rooting out any possible attempts by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to aid in the Kremlin’s war.

“We are watching very closely the decisions that the PRC makes when it comes to any Russian requests for security assistance,” Price said during a Jan. 9 press briefing, using an acronym for the official name of communist China, the People’s Republic of China.

“We’ve been very clear with the PRC, including in private, including when the two presidents met in Bali last November, about any costs that would befall the PRC should they decide to assist Russia in a systematic effort to evade U.S. sanctions or in the provision of security assistance that would then be used against the Ukrainian people in Ukraine.”

The United States has long maintained that the CCP, which rules China as a single-party state, could seek to help Russia dodge sanctions or even provide material assistance for its ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

In March, top U.S. and CCP diplomats convened for a seven-hour emergency meeting in Rome, following reports that the CCP was considering a request from the Kremlin for economic and military support for its war in Ukraine.

Russia has not helped to alleviate international distrust of the CCP on this issue, and has repeatedly claimed that the CCP supports its war.

Russian Flights to China Raise Concern

Concern over the possibility of CCP support for Russia’s war effort increased in recent months, following reports that Russian An-124 military transport planes were making frequent trips to China, often turning off their transponders to conceal their movements.

Ukrainian media outlet Defense Express first suggested that the flights could be evidence of Russia importing military equipment from China in November, though there has been no verification for such a claim.

In late November, China and Russia concluded joint military exercises over the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea, which included the first-ever incident of Chinese and Russian bombers landing at one another’s airfields during a training exercise.

It unmarked flights between Russia and China coincided with a jump in air traffic between the two powers, which increased for the fourth month in a row in December.

Responding to a question about the purpose of the An-124s, Price said that the United States did not have any new information on the matter, but would continue to monitor the situation.

“I don’t have a new assessment to offer,” Price said. “ It is still very much the position of the U.S. Government that we are, number one, watching very closely.”

“Number two, if we see the provision of security assistance to Russia for use in Ukraine to do what Russia has been doing to the people of Ukraine, to the state of Ukraine, to the Government of Ukraine, or if we see the PRC taking action to systemically assist Russia evade sanctions, of course, there will be costs.”