The State Department accused China of covert assistance to Russia

"In public, China is trying to present itself as a supporter of peace. However, privately continues to help Russia in conducting its own and is coming very close to the potential transfer of lethal aid. I think China's words would be taken more seriously if it refused to support Russia. This directly contradicts the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity", - Kritenbrink said during a briefing, commenting on the issue of hypothetical military assistance to Moscow from Beijing (quoted by TASS).

He also recalled the warning of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to China about the consequences of material support of the Russian Federation as part of a special operation or assistance to circumvent sanctions. Kritenbrink stressed that providing lethal assistance to Russia from the PRC for conducting military operations in Ukraine will entail real consequences in US-China relations, as well as in China's relations with other countries. He also expressed confidence that Beijing is aware of the risks of supporting its own.

"We have also made it clear that we will pursue Chinese companies or individuals who violate the US sanctions regime without delay, and we are, of course, closely monitoring these potential violations", - the US Assistant Secretary of State said.

Earlier, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin commented on Blinken's statement, recalling that Washington likes to call itself a defender of peace, but at the same time profiting from the supply of weapons to Ukraine, and is also the largest supplier of weapons to Kiev.