US warns China against providing any support to Russia in the ongoing Ukraine conflict

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Russia has sought military assistance from China in Ukraine, a US official has reportedly said.

According to New York Times, the US officials have however not disclosed what type of weapon has been requested.

The US newspaper, quoting the official, also claimed that Kremlin has asked China for economic assistance in the wake of sanctions imposed by the West.

There are already reports of Russian banks tying up with the Chinese counterparts on the possibility of issuing “co-badged” cards powered by payment systems like Chinese state-owned UnionPay and Russia’s Mir for international payments, after Visa and Mastercard ceased operations in Russia.

China has, however, refuted claims of Moscow seeking weapons. Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in the US, said in a statement, "I've never heard of that."

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“The high priority now is to prevent the tense situation from escalating or even getting out of control. ... China calls for exercising utmost restraint and preventing a massive humanitarian crisis,” CNN quoted the statement as saying.

Meanwhile, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan, who is planning to meet Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi this week, warned China against providing any support to Russia to counter global sanctions. 

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"We are communicating directly, privately to Beijing that there will absolutely be consequences for large-scale sanctions evasion efforts or support to Russia to backfill them," Sullivan told CNN on Sunday.

"We will not allow that to go forward and allow there to be a lifeline to Russia from these economic sanctions from any country, anywhere in the world," he was quoted as saying.

(With inputs from agencies)