Retired General Predicts Chinese Military Support for Russia Will Wane After US Warning

Russia's President Vladimir Putin (C) reviews a military honour guard with Chinese President Xi Jinping (L) during a welcoming ceremony outside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on June 8, 2018. Greg Baker/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Retired four-star Army Gen. Jack Keane said Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s Feb. 19 warning that China may send deadly help to Russia could prompt Beijing to abandon such preparations.

Blinken said during an interview with ABC News’ Marth Raddatz on the same day that China is “considering” providing lethal support to Russia as its war with Ukraine reaches the one-year mark.

Keane, now a Fox News analyst, told host Shannon Bream, “I agree with the administration for beginning to expose what they have picked up, likely in intelligence circles, that China is getting ready to provide some military lethal aid to Russia.

“And I think coming out and exposing—and I would go further and tell them—what we think they are attempting to provide, China will pull back, likely, after that public exposure,” the retired general said on “Fox News Sunday.”

Keane said China and Russia are “strategic partners” and said it’s like “China wants Russia to succeed” in their battle with Ukraine.

“Remember, China has not condemned the invasion. They have not condemned that it’s illegal. They have not come out and spoken against genocide and war crimes that are being committed,” Keane said.

“Certainly, China has been buying as much Russian oil as they possibly can and helping them with the sanctions that are imposed on them.”

The United States warned on Feb. 18 that China would cross a “red line” if it opted to provide Russia with deadly military support, including weapons and ammunition, to aid in its conflict against Ukraine, as The Epoch Times reported.

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, made the comments on CNN’s “State of the Union“ on Feb. 19.

“We welcome the Chinese announcement that they want peace because that’s what we always want to pursue in situations like this. But we also have to be clear that if there are any thoughts and efforts by the Chinese and others to provide lethal support to the Russians in their brutal attack against Ukraine, that is unacceptable,” Thomas-Greenfield said.

Those comments came just before the news broke that President Joe Biden made an unannounced visit to Kyiv, Ukraine, on Jan. 20 to show support ahead of the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion.

Biden met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who said he and Biden discussed providing long-range weapons to Kyiv in light of Ukraine’s repeated urgent requests for more military assistance.

The president pledged an additional $500 million in aid and vowed that the United States would continue to support Ukraine in the conflict.

“As the world prepares to mark the one-year anniversary of Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, I am in Kyiv today to meet with President Zelenskyy and reaffirm our unwavering and unflagging commitment to Ukraine’s democracy, sovereignty, and territorial integrity,” Biden said in a statement.