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(Bloomberg) — China is providing crucial support for Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and could end the war with a phone call, US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker said.
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“China could call Vladimir Putin and end this war tomorrow and cut off his dual-purpose technologies that they’re selling,” Whitaker said during a Friday panel at the Munich Security Conference. “China could stop buying Russian oil and gas.”
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“You know, this war is being completely enabled by China,” the US envoy added during a panel on US foreign policy moderated by Bloomberg’s Francine Lacqua.
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China and Russia have forged an even tighter partnership since the start of the war, and Russia relies on China for critical parts and components for drones and other war material. China is also once again the biggest buyer of Russia’s crude oil shipments even as international pressure intensifies on Moscow’s critical oil trade.
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Tracking data show 1.65 million barrels a day of crude offloaded at Chinese ports in January. That’s the most since March 2024 and the second-highest monthly total since Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
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Even still, Beijing has repeatedly said it wants to have a “constructive” role in ending the crisis. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with his Ukrainian counterpart, Andrii Sybiha, in Munich this week and offered humanitarian aid to the country as it deals with Russian attacks against its energy system, according to readouts from both Sybiha and Beijing.
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Democratic contenders in Munich
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The Munich conference, which extends from Friday to Sunday, attracts global policy leaders to discuss foreign relations and international security. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron are among the dignitaries assembled.
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Whitaker was joined on the Munich Security Conference panel by two potential 2028 Democratic presidential contenders, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
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Other prominent Democratic political figures including California Governor Gavin Newsom traveled to the conference, seeking to reassure European allies of US commitment to the transatlantic alliance as President Donald Trump threatens to uproot relationships across the globe.
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“The Democratic Party is here for our allies,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “The vast majority of the American people do not want to see these relationships frayed, and they are committed to our allies.”
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Whitmer said strains between the US and European allies, including trade tensions and Trump’s pressure campaign to obtain Greenland from Denmark, have ruptured allies’ trust in the US. However, she said that damage isn’t “a permanent, irredeemable change.”
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“It will take time to rebuild but I’m confident that we’ll do that,” the Michigan governor said.
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Whitaker, who Trump appointed as his envoy to NATO, said the alliance is “stronger than ever” because of the US president’s pressure on allies to ramp up military spending.
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“The United States of America keeps showing up, and we will keep showing up. We just expect our allies to be equally as strong,” Whitaker said.
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