Arms to Russia: In a warning to China, US State Department Secretary Antony Blinken stated that Beijing is considering selling weapons to Russia, which will have an impact on the relationship and will result in “consequences.” (Arms to Russia)
“With regard to China and its support for Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, as we said from the start and… going back to the very beginning of Russia’s aggression, was China engaged in lethal material support for Russia’s aggression or was engaged in systematic evasion of sanctions to help Russia, that would be a serious problem for our countries,” Blinken said during a press conference here. “When I encountered senior foreign policy official Wang Yi (China), I expressed our concern about reports that Beijing is considering selling weapons to Russia, and I told him that would be a big problem in our relationship with China, with serious ramifications,” he added.
Blinken landed in India on Wednesday evening and attended the G20 Foreign Ministers Conference, as well as meeting External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
Jaishankar and Blinken went over their connections and talked about global challenges.
Meanwhile, at the press conference, Blinken revealed that he spoke briefly with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
“I spoke briefly with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov today,” Blinken stated on the margins of the G20 meeting in New Delhi.
“I asked Russia to rethink its foolish decision and resume implementing the New START treaty, which establishes verifiable limits on the United States’ and Russian Federation’s nuclear arsenals. Mutual compliance is in both of our countries’ best interests. It’s also what the world’s people expect from us as nuclear powers “Blinken was added.
“I assured the foreign minister that regardless of what else is going on in the world or in our relationship, the US will always be ready to engage and act on strategic arms control, just as the US and the Soviet Union did even at the height of the Cold War,” he continued.
The encounter was the first face-to-face between the two foreign ministers since the crisis between Russia and Ukraine erupted over a year ago, causing a schism between US-led Western countries and Moscow.
He stated that the burden of Russia’s aggressiveness is being borne by all countries.