China may be on the brink of supplying arms to Russia: Blinken upon meeting Chinese counterpart

It was a rather blunt exchange when US state secretary Antony Blinken met Chinese state councillor Wang Yi along the sidelines of Munich security conference.

Blinken without mincing any words registered strong protest for 'violation of US sovereignty' by the Chinese spy balloon which was spotted and subsequently shot down in US airspace.

Blinken also added that Beijing might be supplying arms and other lethal aid to Moscow which is at war with its neighbour Ukraine.

Antony Blinken also urged China to not help Russia evade the impact of sanctions by the West.

"The Secretary directly spoke to the unacceptable violation of US sovereignty and international law by the PRC high-altitude surveillance balloon in US territorial airspace, underscoring that this irresponsible act must never occur again," State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said.

"During the meeting, Blinken made clear the United States will not stand for any violation of our sovereignty, and that the Chinese high-altitude surveillance balloon programme — which has intruded into the airspace of more than 40 countries across five continents — has been exposed to the world," he said.

Also watch: China's top diplomat terms US balloon claim as 'hysterical and absurd'

The relations between the US and China strained after Washington said Beijing flew a spy balloon over America before US fighter jets shot it down on President Joe Biden’s orders.

The balloon incident prompted Blinken to postpone a planned visit to Beijing. The February 5-6 trip would have been the first by a US secretary of state to China in five years and was seen by both countries as an opportunity to stabilise their strained ties.

with inputs from PTI