UN ambassador warns of ‘consequences’ if China provides lethal aid to Russia

by Julia Mueller - 02/19/23 10:34 AM ET

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield on Sunday warned of “consequences” if China moves to provide lethal aid to Russia after Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Beijing was “strongly considering” the assistance.

Asked what specifically those consequences would entail, Thomas-Greenfield said on CNN’s “State of the Union” that the U.S. isn’t going to announce its plans, but has communicated the ramifications to Beijing.

“We’re not going to advance and announce what we’re planning to do but we made clear to the Chinese that there will be consequences should they make that unfortunate decision,” Thomas-Greenfield said

Blinken in an interview with NBC News airing on Sunday warned that China is “strongly considering” providing Russia with “lethal assistance” as Moscow’s war on Ukraine reaches its one-year mark on Friday.

“Our message to China is China should not do anything that will provide lethal support to the Russians to assist them in their brutal attacks on the Ukrainian people,” Thomas-Greenfield said on CNN, adding that both Blinken and President Biden “made that message clear” in talks with Chinese officials.

CNN anchor Pamela Brown pressed the ambassador, asking whether Americans should believe Beijing when it claims to want peace with Ukraine.

“Well, 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 that is unacceptable. Again, that would be a red line,” Thomas-Greenfield said.

The claims come amid heightened U.S.-China tensions after the Biden administration shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon that Pentagon officials say spent days flying over sensitive U.S. sites across the country. Beijing claimed it was a civilian weather balloon blown off-course.