China told Russia not to invade Ukraine during Winter Olympics, report says

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Senior Chinese officials told senior Russian officials in early February not to invade Ukraine before the end of the Winter Olympics in Beijing, the New York Times reported, quoting Biden administration officials and a European official who cited a western intelligence report.

The New York Times said the intelligence report indicated senior Chinese officials had some level of knowledge about Russia’s plans or intentions to invade Ukraine before Moscow launched the operation last week.

A source familiar with the matter confirmed to Reuters that China had made the request but declined to provide details. The source declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter.

“The claims mentioned in the relevant reports are speculations without any basis, and are intended to blame-shift and smear China,” said Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington.

The US state department, the CIA and the White House national security council did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

After weeks of warnings from western leaders, Russia unleashed a three-pronged invasion of Ukraine from the north, east and south on 24 February, just days after the Winter Olympics ended.

The intelligence on the exchange between the Chinese and Russian officials was collected by a western intelligence service and is considered credible by officials reviewing it, the New York Times reported.

Senior officials in the United States and in allied governments passed it around as they discussed when President Vladimir Putin might attack Ukraine but intelligence services had varying interpretations, the Times said, adding that it was not clear how widely the information was shared.

One official the Times said was familiar with the intelligence said the material did not necessarily indicate the conversations about an invasion took place at the level of the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, and Putin.