Blinken Warns China to Face 'Real Consequences' If Beijing Supplies Weapons to Moscow

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - China will face consequences if Beijing decides to supply Russia with military assistance amid the Ukraine conflict, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday, while refusing to specify the details of Washington's response.

"We are concerned that China is considering supporting Russia's war effort in Ukraine with lethal assistance. It's something that we're watching very, very closely... there would be real consequences in our own relationship were China to provide lethal assistance to Russia in this aggression against Ukraine or in a systematic way aid in the evasion of sanctions," Blinken said at a press conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

Blinken also warned that China might face "a real problem in its relationships with many other countries" if it decides to aid Russia.

"I'm not going to lay out what the consequences would be. I shared these concerns directly with the senior Chinese foreign policy official, [Chinese Central Foreign Affairs Office Director] Wang Yi, when I saw him at the Munich Security Conference just the other day," Blinken added.

Earlier in the day, media reported that Blinken's meeting with Wang Yi on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on February 18 showed the poor condition of the US-China relations. According to the reports, Wang told Blinken that China would never accept pressure and threats from Washington regarding Russian-Chinese relations.

The United States has repeatedly warned China against helping Russia in evading sanctions or conducting its military operation, and threatened, among other things, with the loss of foreign investment.