Blinken raises concerns over Beijing's alignment with Moscow

Blinken said he did not think China was behaving in a neutral way, as it had supported Russia in the United Nations and "amplified Russian propaganda."

"I shared again with the state councilor that we are concerned about the PRC's alignment with Russia," said at a news conference after the talks, referring to the People's Republic of China.

Read also: War in Ukraine is no one’s interest, says China

According to Reuters, Blinken said Chinese President Xi Jinping had made it clear in a call with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin on June 13 that he stood by a decision to form a partnership with Russia.

It is noted that the diplomats both described their first in-person discussions since October as "candid," with the meeting taking place a day after they attended a gathering of G20 foreign ministers on the Indonesian island of Bali.

U.S. officials had said before the talks that the meeting was aimed at keeping the difficult U.S.-China relationship stable and preventing it from veering inadvertently into conflict.

Putin and Xi Jinping at a Feb. 4 meeting adopted a joint statement on geopolitical positions and signed 15 more documents.

Read also: Chinese exports to Russia fall by almost 40% since February

After Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, China did not condemn Moscow. The U.S. media reported that Russia had asked China to support the war it unleashed by providing military equipment and economic aid, but both Moscow and Beijing deny this.

China's ambassador to Ukraine assured that the People's Republic of China would never attack Ukraine and would help in the economic field.

Washington has repeatedly warned China about the consequences if it supportsRussian aggression. But as of July, there is no evidence that Beijing has provided any material support to Russia for its war against Ukraine.

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