South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham said on Monday the United States should place sanctions on China if the country helps Russia in its war with Ukraine.
Graham’s suggestion comes after a New York Times report on Sunday claimed Moscow has requested weaponry and economic support from Beijing.
The South Carolina senator said Chinese President Xi Jinping does not have a problem with Russian President Vladimir Putin “murdering people on an industrial scale as a war criminal,” and the U.S. would be “missing an opportunity to further isolate Russia” and “stand up to China” if the sanctions are not implemented, he said in his interview with Fox News.
“Let’s start telling China, ‘If you pick sides and you pick Putin the war criminal over world order, then you’re gonna have a tough time trading in the free world,'” he said.
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Graham added that the U.S. should “go after anybody and everybody who tries to prop up the war criminal Putin.” He also gave an analogy in his interview that compared China to Germany in World War II and said that Russia is “sort of” like Italy.
Jake Sullivan, national security adviser for President Joe Biden, said there would be “consequences” for China if it helps Russia evade sanctions. Sullivan said he believes China was aware “Putin was planning something” before his attack on Ukraine.
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Graham made the controversial statement on March 3, calling for someone in Russia to rise up and assassinate Putin. His pitch was rebuked by both Republicans and Democrats.
