Foreign minister Wang Yi says that China is not a party to the Russia-Ukraine crisis, as pressure grows on it to withdraw support for Moscow. He said China rejects sanctions in principle and ‘has the right to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests’, calling the three-week conflict in Ukraine ‘the product of the accumulation and intensification of European security contradictions over the years’. There was no mention of recent reports that Russia had asked China for military and economic help after the start of the war. On 13 March US national security adviser Jake Sullivan told Beijing that there will be consequences for large-scale sanctions evasion efforts or support to Russia to backfill them. China’s foreign ministry spokesman said the US had been spreading disinformation targeting China on the Ukraine issue. Asked if he could clarify whether China had received a request for military help from Russia, Mr Zhao said this was ‘fake news’ but did not deny it.