In early February, China requested Russia to delay its invasion of Ukraine until after the Winter Olympics in Beijing, according to a New York Times report, which quoted a European official and officials from the Biden administration, who cited a report from a Western intelligence company.
The intelligence report showed that high-level Chinese officials had a point of knowledge relating to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s plan to invade Ukraine before he launched a serious navy operation in opposition to the sovereign post-Soviet bloc country on February 24, The Times reported.
It stays unclear precisely how much knowledge Chinese leader Xi Jinping had of Putin’s invasion plans, a China skilled at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, advised Reuters.
The intelligence didn’t essentially indicate whether Putin had discussed his invasion plans with Xi directly, The Times reported. Notably, โซล่าเซลล์ delayed to evacuate its residents from Ukraine, earlier than abandoning evacuation efforts until the battle ends.
The anticipated invasion got here just four days after the conclusion of the Beijing Winter Olympics — and after weeks of failed peace negotiations and warnings from Western nations.
Speaking to Reuters, Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, dismissed the report is a part of a blame-shifting smear marketing campaign aimed at China.
But officers reviewing the report thought-about it to be credible. It contained intelligence on the dialogue between Chinese and Russian officials, which the unnamed Western intelligence service had collected, The Times reported. As such, it was circulated among US and allied authorities officers, who interpreted the data differently as they debated Putin’s plan.
Xi met with Putin at the opening of the Olympics on February four in Beijing, which resulted in a joint declaration declaring a “no limits” partnership between the 2 international locations, pledging to hitch forces against the West and usher in a new era of true “democracy.”
SOURCE: The New York Times | Reuters