The United States plans to impose new sanctions against Chinese entities that fuel Russia’s war in Ukraine, Bloomberg reported on July 19, citing U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.
Sullivan hinted that Chinese banks may also be targeted, according to Bloomberg.
“We think China should stop because we think it is profoundly outside of the bounds of decent conduct by nation states,” Sullivan said at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado.
“You can expect to see additional sanctions measures as we watch this picture continue to evolve in the coming weeks.”
China has positioned itself as neutral in the ongoing war but has deepened economic ties with Russia and become Moscow’s leading source of dual-use goods that feed the Russian defense industry.
Sullivan brought up U.S. President Joe Biden’s executive order at the end of 2023, which allowed the U.S. Treasury Department to impose sanctions on banks that finance the production of dual-use goods that help the Russian defense industry.
“These powers had not been granted for nothing,” the U.S. national security advisor added.
“We put that in place so that when we find a bank that we feel falls within that sanctions regime, we can do something about it,” Sullivan said.
“I don’t have a prediction today, but I will just tell you that we have, over time, put the tools together to be able to respond to this kind of behavior. And we will respond to this kind of behavior.”
Washington has warned Beijing before of possible sanctions for supporting the Russian defense industry. Sullivan’s statement indicates that new restrictions are “near,” Bloomberg reported.
China responds when the U.S. comes forward with concrete evidence of financial transactions that violate the sanctions imposed on Russia by the U.S. But “writ large, the picture is not pretty,” with Chinese firms continuing to help Russia’s war efforts, Sullivan added.
Chinese leadership has previously denied supporting either side of the war and claimed that its ties with Russia do not go beyond the confines of a “normal” relationship, while underscoring its close partnership with Moscow.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin last met in May when Putin visited China for two days.
Speaking on May 16 at a press conference, the pair put on a united front and cast themselves as partners opposed to a Western, U.S.-led world order.
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The news comes days after NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on July 11 said that China is a “decisive enabler” of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
