World

U.S. Warns China Not to Help Russia as Antiwar Protest Disrupts State Media

Tuesday, March 15, 2022 3:57 am | 2 Minute Read

Members of the Chinese delegation leave the Rome Cavalieri, a Waldorf Astoria hotel, where a meeting between U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Top Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi is believed to have taken place in Rome, Italy, Monday. (REUTERS/Remo Casilli)

The United States warned China after “intense” talks on Monday against helping Moscow in its invasion of Ukraine, while an antiwar protester interrupted Russian state media news in an extraordinary act of dissent.

China had signaled willingness to provide aid to Russia, a U.S. official said, as national security adviser Jake Sullivan met with China‘s top diplomat Yang Jiechi in Rome.

“We have communicated very clearly to Beijing that we won’t stand by,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters on Monday. “We will not allow any country to compensate Russia for its losses.”

The seven-hour meeting was “intense” and reflected “the gravity of the moment,” according to a U.S. official.

The West is weighing how to deal with any involvement from China, top global exporter and No.1 foreign supplier of goods to Americans.

In Russia, a rare antiwar protest occurred in a studio during the main news program on state media’s Channel One, which is the primary source of news for millions of Russians and closely follows the Kremlin line. A woman held up a sign in English and Russian that said: “NO WAR. Stop the war. Don’t believe propaganda. They are lying to you here.”

The protester could be seen and heard for several seconds before the channel switched to a different report so she was no longer visible.