WASHINGTON (Reuters) – China’s President Xi Jinping would “not be ecstatic” if Russia were to invade Ukraine as Beijing’s Winter Olympic Games begin early next month, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said on Wednesday.
During a virtual conversation hosted by Yalta European Strategy, Sherman said she did not know whether Russian President Vladimir Putin had made the decision to invade, but that indications suggested an invasion could come between now and mid-February.
“We all are aware that the Beijing Olympics are beginning on February 4th, the opening ceremony, and President Putin expects to be there. I think that probably President Xi Jinping would not be ecstatic if Putin chose that moment to invade Ukraine,” Sherman said. “So that may affect his timing and his thinking.”
(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk and Simon Lewis; Editing by Doina Chiacu)
