WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden has said he believed Beijing has not sent weapons to Moscow following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces attacked Ukraine.
“I have been hearing now for the last three months (that) Beijing is going to provide significant arms to Russia… They have not yet. Does not mean they won’t, but they haven’t yet,” Joe Biden told a news conference during a trip to Canada.
“I do not take Beijing lightly. I do not take Moscow lightly,” Joe Biden added, while also suggesting that reports about their reunion had probably been “exaggerated.”
Conversely, President Biden stressed the strong relations among Western democracies, adding “if anything’s occurred, the West has united significantly more.”
Beijing-Moscow
During a trip by Chinese President to Russia this week, Moscow and Beijing for their part welcomed “the special nature” of their ties.
But while China’s president promised a trade lifeline and some support, more visible was that he did not commit to supplying arms for Moscow’s depleted forces in Ukraine.
There was also no long-term Beijing commitment to purchase huge quantities of Russian gas that is no longer flowing to European countries.
