As Russia wreaks havoc in Ukraine, it has a powerful economic ally to help it resist the Western sanctions: China.
In December, Chinese purchases of oil from Russia were more than those from Saudi Arabia. Russia signed a deal to sell 100 million tons of coal to China six days before the military campaign began. China agreed to buy Russian wheat despite concerns about plant diseases.
China is once again drawing close to Russia, just like in the 1950s, when Mao and Joseph Stalin worked closely with Nikita Khrushchev. Beijing's leaders have decided that their best chance of success is marrying their industrial might with Russia's natural resources, as the United States and the European Union have become wary of China.
Recent food and energy deals are indicative of China's economic alignment with Russia.
Shi Yinhong, a professor of international relations at Renmin University in Beijing, said in a text message that the Russian expansionism by force and the Chinese economic and financial support to Russia are only the beginning.
The United States and the European Union hope that sanctions will force Russia to rethink its policies. The Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said on Friday that China opposed the use of sanctions.
He said that sanctions are never an effective way to solve problems.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has caused an awkward diplomatic dilemma on the part of China, since the Chinese leaders regard national sovereignty as sacrosanct. China's economic relationship with Russia could be used as leverage to get the Russians to resolve the crisis quickly.
The presidents of Russia and China spoke on the phone. An official Chinese statement said that Mr. Xi had supported Russia in its negotiations with Ukraine.
Most of China's energy and food imports were done by the U.S. or Indian navy. As China's leaders have focused on the possibility of conflict, with military spending last year growing four times as fast as other government spending, they have emphasized greater reliance on Russia for crucial supplies.
China has become Russia's largest source of imports and the biggest destination for its exports in the last few years.
Andy Mok is a senior research fellow at the Center for China and Globalization in Beijing.
Western sanctions on Russia focused on limiting technology exports. To avoid harming ordinary people and further fueling inflation, U.S. officials have avoided targeting consumer goods, agricultural products and energy.
China is the world's dominant manufacturer of electronics, machinery and other manufactured goods, and has been supplying them to Russia in exchange for food and energy.
The Sino-Russian nonaggression pact was signed in Beijing on February 4. Hours before the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics, Mr. Xi and Mr. Putin issued a statement saying their friendship has no bounds.
The pact freed Mr. Putin to move troops and military equipment from Russia's border with China to its border with Ukraine.
Jean-Pierre Cabestan, a research professor of political science at Hong Kong Baptist University, said that the joint statement has lasting consequences for the new world order.
Both the Chinese and Russian governments are against the use of sanctions to exert pressure on other countries.
China helped Russia evade sanctions imposed by the Obama administration after the invasion of Ukraine.
It's not clear if China will help Russia escape sanctions. On Tuesday, the Biden administration added to previous measures by announcing sanctions against Russia's two largest financial institutions and sweeping restrictions on advanced technologies that can be exported to Russia. The administration said that the technological curbs would block a fifth of Russian imports.
The United States could impose criminal and civil penalties on Chinese companies that circumvent the rules. American technology and the financial system could be cut off from those businesses.
Two Chinese firms that were barred from receiving American technological exports attracted the attention of the U.S. government in part for evading sanctions on Iran.
Is China going to comply with this? He said that China has a law that penalizes companies for following extraterritorial sanctions by countries like the United States.
They could face penalties in China if they don't comply with the U.S.
It's already proving difficult to monitor the things that are already controlled.
There is a rising concern. Russia's attack on Ukraine could cause spikes in energy and food prices. Some countries and industries would suffer severe economic damage from supply disruptions and economic sanctions.
The price of energy. As the conflict has intensified, oil prices have risen to their highest level in more than two years. One of every 10 barrels the global economy consumes is supplied by Russia.
There is gas supplies. Europe gets nearly 40 percent of its natural gas from Russia, and it is likely to be walloped with higher heating bills. European leaders accuse Russia of reducing supplies to gain a political edge, as natural gas reserves are running low.
There are shortages of essential metals. Russia is the world's largest exporter of the metal and the price of it has gone up as a result. The price of nickel has gone up.
Financial turmoil. Sanctions designed to restrict Russia's access to foreign capital and limit its ability to process payments in dollars, euros and other currencies are expected to have an effect on global banks. Russia is also on alert for cyberattacks.
The Biden administration's export controls apply to goods produced in any country if they use U.S. technology.
Gabriel Wildau is a managing director at Teneo, a consulting firm. SMIC and other Chinese companies could be cut off from U.S. technology if they continue to supply to Russia.
Pressure will rise in the U.S. Congress if Beijing is seen as Moscow's enabler, according to Mr. Wildau. He said that Beijing would face the risk that other major technology exporters, like Japan, South Korea and the Netherlands, would adopt Washington's tougher line.
China's state-owned banks could face risks if they continue to lend to Russia. The renminbi and ruble have been used more by China and Russia. Beijing is trying to develop the digital use of its currency as an alternative to the dollar, which could help Russia limit the effects of financial sanctions.
Chinese banks still rely on the U.S. dollar. Beijing could support Russia using smaller state-owned banks that don't do a lot of international business that requires the use of the dollar, according to Mr. Wildau.
China, Russia, Iran, Venezuela and other countries have felt the effects of American financial sanctions and need more trade and investment in currencies other than the dollar.
Beijing is unlikely to publicly announce that Chinese entities circumvent U.S. rules. China punishes trading partners that have offended it. To avoid clear violations of international trade rules, it does this through orders sent to customs officials.
After Taiwan agreed to open an office in Lithuania, China imposed a trade embargo on that country. Russia andLithuania, a former Soviet republic that has embraced democracy, are not on good terms.
China halted purchases of several commodities from Australia for more than a year and halted rare earth metals exports to Japan for two months in 2020 due to a territorial dispute.
China's embrace of Russia on energy, food and financial issues carries risks for Beijing and for Mr. Xi.
The United States and European nations have huge trade surpluses with China. If China is seen to be enabling Mr. Putin's aggressive moves, that could strengthen support in the West for tariffs or other curbs on technology and trade.
More trade barriers might make it harder for Western companies and consumers to find jobs in China, where tens of millions of jobs have been created.
Mr. Xi has worked hard to reduce China's reliance on other countries by subsidizing companies to make a complete range of industrial goods domestically.
In a speech in 2020, he ordered that China tighten its dependence on the international industrial chain so as to develop a strong countermeasure and deterrent ability against external attempts to sever our supply chains.
They reported from Beijing and Washington. They contributed research.
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