The New York Times reported in early February that senior Chinese officials warned top Russian officials not to invade Ukraine before the end of the Winter Olympics in Beijing, quoting officials from the Biden administration and a European official who cited a Western intelligence analysis.
The intelligence analysis, according to the New York Times, suggested that senior Chinese officials were aware of Russia's plans or intentions to attack Ukraine before Russian President Vladimir Putin gave the order to launch a full-scale military action on the country last week.
China had made the request, according to a source familiar with the situation, but the source refused to disclose other information. Because of the sensitivity of the situation, the source declined to be identified.
The assertions highlighted in the relevant papers are "speculative and aimed to shift blame and malign China," Liu Pengyu, a spokeswoman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said.
Requests for comment to the US State Department, the CIA, and the White House National Security Council were not immediately returned.
On Feb. 24, only days after the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics finished, Russia launched a three-pronged invasion of Ukraine from the north, east, and south, despite weeks of warnings from Western leaders.
On the eve of the Olympics, Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping met and announced an improved "no limits" relationship in which they committed to work together more against the West.
The intelligence on the meeting between Chinese and Russian officials was obtained by a Western intelligence service, per the New York Times, and was deemed reliable by those analyzing it.
U.S. intelligence sources corroborated prior the Times' reporting that Washington sent information on Russia's military force buildup around Ukraine ahead of the invasion to senior Chinese officials in the hopes that Beijing would persuade Moscow to withdraw its soldiers.
The evidence was handed around by senior officials in the US and other governments as they pondered when Putin would invade Ukraine, according to the newspaper, but intelligence services had differing interpretations, and it was unclear how broadly the information was shared.
The evidence does not necessarily show that the talks about an invasion were taking shape at the level of Xi and Putin, according to the New York Times.
As per Bonny Lin, a Chinese researcher at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, it's unclear how much Xi knew about Putin's plans.
