In hopes of securing assistance in deterring a Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Biden administration was reduced to providing China with military intelligence that Beijing in turn gave to Russia.
U.S. officials learned in December that China had provided American intelligence on Russian military activity to Moscow, The New York Times reported.
American officials believed that if any world leader could prove capable of convincing Russian President Vladimir Putin to rethink his invasion plans, it was Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Russia and China have strengthened their ties in recent years.
The Biden administration had sought to convince China that its international image would be damaged by a Russian invasion of Ukraine.
In a November meeting with Chinese Ambassador Qin Gang, American officials said the harsh economic sanctions Russia would incur would hurt the Chinese economy as well.
Successive attempts to influence Qin against Russia proved unsuccessful, with Qin asserting that Russia had legitimate security concerns in the region.
American officials also shared intelligence with the Chinese showing the Russian military buildup around Ukraine.
In addition to providing the information to the Kremlin, American officials believe China told Russia that the U.S. was attempting to sow discord between the two nations and pledged not to interfere in Russia’s plans in Ukraine.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken failed in attempts to convince China to work against Russian plans in January and just days before Putin launched his attack.
In the lead-up to the invasion, President Joe Biden proved utterly incapable of effectively working with America’s NATO partners to deter Russian aggression.
Germany finally canceled the Russian Nord Stream 2 Pipeline this week, with European countries consistently refusing to back measures that would stymie trade and commerce between themselves and oil-rich Russia.
On Wednesday, a spokeswoman for China’s Foreign Ministry claimed that the U.S. is “the culprit of current tensions surrounding Ukraine.”
“If someone keeps pouring oil on the flame while accusing others of not doing their best to put out the fire, such kind of behavior is clearly irresponsible and immoral,” she said.
“When the U.S. drove five waves of NATO expansion eastward all the way to Russia’s doorstep and deployed advanced offensive strategic weapons in breach of its assurances to Russia, did it ever think about the consequences of pushing a big country to the wall?”
Xi struck a neutral tone in a call with Putin on Friday, calling for respect for the “sovereignty and territorial integrity” of all countries. Xi also said the U.S. and NATO had ignored Russia’s “reasonable” security concerns.
