A Chinese diplomat downplayed his country's ties to Moscow, but the Biden administration remains skeptical.
China’s Ambassador to the European Union Fu Cong told the New York Times in an interview this week that its “no limits” relationship with Russia, as outlined in a joint statement prior to Russia invading Ukraine, was just rhetoric.
Some people “deliberately misinterpret this because there’s the so-called ‘no limit’ friendship or relationship,” he said. “‘No limit’ is nothing but rhetoric.”
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The U.S. has warned for a couple months that Beijing is considering providing lethal aid to Russia for use in Ukraine, though officials maintain they have not seen this occur yet. Fu said China hasn't done so and noted that Beijing also hasn't recognized Moscow's attempts to annex Ukrainian territories, including Crimea and the Donbas.
"We haven't seen any indication that they've provided lethal weapon capabilities to Mr. Putin," National Security Council coordinator John Kirby told reporters on Wednesday. "And look for us it's actions, not words. We're just going to keep watching it and monitoring it."
"It's certainly encouraging to hear that they are publicly making that pronouncement," he added. "But we're going to obviously going to continue to monitor."
While Beijing hasn't condemned Russia's war, Fu said it's because his government believes “the root causes are more complicated” than Western leaders admit.
Fu’s comments came shortly before Presidents Emmanuel Macron of France and Ursula von der Leyen of the European Commission travel to China on Wednesday for a three-day trip, which will focus on Russia’s war in Ukraine.
President Joe Biden spoke with Macron on Tuesday, and the French president's office noted that the leaders signaled "their joint willingness to engage China to accelerate the end of the war in Ukraine."
What was left unwritten in the statement was that the West will only tolerate a peace deal if it includes Ukrainian interests and garners support from them, ruling out the Chinese peace plan that U.S. officials rebuked earlier this year.
Kirby welcomed the prospect of Beijing condemning Russia's war.
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"We still urge China that they truly want to accelerate and enter the war, to join the rest of the international community in condemning what Mr. Putin is doing, holding them accountable," he explained. "There could be common postures, again, China use the influence that they apparently have in this relationship with Mr. Putin to help push a sustainable credible end to the war. In other words, push Mr. Putin to take his troops and leave you print."
The Biden administration has urged Chinese leader Xi Jinping to speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, especially given Xi's recent trip to Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but a call hasn't taken place yet.
“I know people are fixated on the presidential call,” Fu said. “The fact that President Xi is not speaking to Zelensky does not signify that China is on the side of Russia on the Ukrainian issue.”