The United States warns its allies that China could increase its support for Russia

() — The United States has seen a “disturbing” trend in China’s support for Russia’s military, US officials familiar with intelligence sources told , and there are signs that Beijing wants to “go to the edge” of providing lethal military aid to Russia. Russia undetected, the officials said.

The officials did not describe in detail what kind of intelligence information the US accessed that suggests a recent change in China’s stance. But US officials were concerned enough to share that information with allies and partners at the Munich Security Conference in recent days.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken raised the issue when meeting his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the sidelines of the conference on Saturday, according to officials.

Vice President Kamala Harris also alluded to China’s support for Russia during her speech in Munich.

“We are also concerned that Beijing has deepened its relationship with Moscow since the war began,” Harris said Saturday. “Looking ahead, any move by China to provide lethal support to Russia would only strengthen aggression, continue killing and further undermine a rules-based order,” he said.

The officials said the United States watches as China publicly portrays itself as an advocate of peace (Wang Yi said in Munich on Saturday that Beijing would introduce a “peace plan” for Ukraine and Russia) and seeks to maintain relations with Europe, while at the same time At the same time, he is quietly helping Russia’s war effort and considering the provision of lethal aid.

This Saturday at the conference, Wang Yi said, “This war cannot continue. We need to think about what efforts we can make to end it.”

asked European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Saturday if she believed, after listening to Wang’s speech, that China is heeding Europe’s message not to support Russia. “The opposite,” she said, has been seen so far.

“We have seen that China and Russia entered into an unlimited partnership and I think we need more evidence and more action to see that China is not supporting Russia,” he told . “So far, we see the opposite. And, therefore, there is an open question on the table.

As reported, the Biden administration last month expressed concern to China over evidence suggesting that non-lethal equipment has been sold to Russia by Chinese companies for use in Ukraine, in an effort to determine how much Beijing knows about the transactions. according to two US officials.

That kit included items such as body armor and helmets, multiple sources familiar with US and European intelligence told . But China has stopped short of providing more robust military assistance, such as lethal weapons systems for use on the battlefield in Ukraine, which Russia has requested because it does not want to be seen as a pariah on the world stage, officials said.

But now there are signs that Beijing may be considering it, the officials said, warning publicly and privately that the United States is closely monitoring any violations of Western sanctions that ban military support for Russia.

China and Russia publicly declared “unlimited friendship” just before Russia invaded Ukraine last year, and Wang Yi is scheduled to visit Russia this month, reported.

‘s Nic Robertson contributed to this report.