U.S. officials generally believe the report is credible, but the details are open to interpretation, according to an intelligence source. Although the request came at a time when Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Beijing for the opening ceremony of the Olympics – where he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping – the report does not say whether Putin addressed the issue directly with Xi, the source said. .
The New York Times was the first to report on the report.
Western intelligence officials have been closely monitoring Putin’s build-up on the Ukrainian border at the time, expecting Putin to postpone any military action until after the Olympics so as not to anger China. Following the Putin-X meeting on the sidelines of the Games, Moscow and Beijing issued a joint statement declaring their partnership “borderless” and condemning NATO enlargement, a key pillar of Putin’s justification for the attack on Ukraine. The statement raised Western concerns about a growing China-Russia alliance.
Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington, said: “The allegations mentioned in the relevant reports are speculation without any basis and are intended to shift the blame and denigrate China.”
CNN asked the Russian embassy in Washington for comment.
This story has been updated with additional details.