U.S. signals that it expects China to encourage Ukraine de-escalation

A senior U.S. official responded to a new agreement on closer ties between China and Russia on Friday by saying that the world expects responsible powers to encourage Moscow to pursue diplomacy and de-escalation over Ukraine.

In an email to Reuters, the official, who did not want to be identified, warned that if Russia were to invade Ukraine, and China looked the other way, it would suggests Beijing was willing to tolerate, or "tacitly support," such a move.