Officials From The United States Say Russia Asked China For Military And Economic Aid For Ukraine War

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Officials from the United States often remind people that Russia has few allies or friends. Officials have also said that Russia’s willingness to reach out to its partners is an indication of the difficulties it faces in subduing Ukraine.

Moscow sought additional aid as the United States and Europe increased their pressures and sanctions.

Russia received assistance from Belarus during the war preparations, and used its territory to launch a part of the invasion. Minsk also attempted to help Moscow avoid sanctions. These actions led to sanctions being imposed by the European Union on Belarus. These sanctions limit the flow of money into Belarus from Europe, and prevent some Belarusian banks using the SWIFT financial message system.

Michael Carpenter, U.S. Ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe accused Belarus of being “co-aggressors” and having “stabbed their neighbor in the back,” referring specifically to Ukraine.

Belarus’ President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko has stated that his military will not be participating in the conflict. Russia launched missiles from Belarus, and some Russian soldiers were evacuated to hospital in the country.

Bashar al-Assad, the President of Syria, who owes the survival of his government to Russian intervention in Syria’s civil war, has also publicly supported Moscow’s invasion. According to Pentagon, Russia tried to recruit Syrian fighters for the Ukraine war.

Although there is no information on how many Russian recruits Moscow has enlisted, or if they have arrived at Ukraine, American officials stated that Russia’s efforts are a sign of the strategic and tactical problems facing its commanders.

According to European officials, Russian military contractors who had fought in Syria and Libya were secretly present in eastern Ukraine before the outbreak of war. This was to lay the foundation for an invasion.