A year after the first coronavirus vaccines became available in the United States, and after months of politicized disputes over vaccine mandates, the country’s campaign to vaccinate its population appears to have stalled, with very few people showing up for the first shots.

On average, 76,000 Americans a day received their first dose this week, the lowest since December 2020. according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The number of total doses per day, including first doses, second doses, and boosters, is also the lowest since. This is far from the peak of the vaccination campaign in April 2021, when an average of 1.8 million Americans a day received their first shots.

It seems that people who were ready to get vaccinated have already received their shots, while those who are hesitant or resistant to vaccines now have less incentive to change their minds. The number of Covid-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths are declining, and many states are waiving mask mandates.

“Talking to vaccine-resistant patients is one of the most frustrating things I have ever done as a doctor,” said Dr. Irvin Redlener, pediatrician and director of the National Disaster Preparedness Center. “The strange thing is that typical public health messages like ‘If you get Covid and don’t get vaccinated, you’re 20 times more likely to die than if you were vaccinated’ just don’t seem to work with these patients. The black-and-white scientific reality is in serious conflict with disinformation.”

As the United States approaches the two-year anniversary of the pandemic, the public mood towards it is dominated by fatigue and frustration. found a recent report. This attitude transcends party lines and crosses different age, gender, racial, ethnic and income groups. The report says the public is currently more concerned about the impact of the Omicron wave on the economy than on their personal health and lives.

“There is a lot of hope that we are done with the pandemic, which is not the case,” Dr. Redlener said, adding that the possible surge of new options and sub-options makes the urgent need for vaccination more real than ever. “I wouldn’t worry if people said, ‘We’re sick of this, we want to go back to normal, but we’re going to get vaccinated.’ Unfortunately, what we are seeing is a confluence of the illusion of normality with vaccine hesitancy.”

Rough 76 percent of Americans have received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. Experts evaluate that, since only about 65 percent of the population is fully vaccinated, there is little hope for the United States of achieving herd immunity. About 80 million Americans still remain unvaccinated, putting them at increased risk of hospitalization and death from Covid-19.

Ukraine today he is struggling to maintain control over his capital, as US intelligence warns Russia hopes the lightning attack on the city is the quickest way to end the war and transfer control of the country back to Moscow.

Intelligence sources, who told reporters in the early hours of Friday, outlined what they thought was Russia’s battle plan – starting with columns of armor and troops moving toward the city from the north and east.

The goal would be to encircle Kiev, besiege it, and then take over one of the two intact airports – Sikorsky or Borispol – which are located near the city center and its eastern outskirts.

Once the airports are secured, a force of 10,000 Russian paratroopers will be sent on Ilyushin Il-76 military transport planes, backed by a Beriev A-50 communications support aircraft.

The paratroopers will then be tasked with leading an attack on the city itself, with the aim of finding and capturing President Vladimir Zelenski, his ministers and parliamentarians, and forcing them to sign a peace agreement. The deal will return control of Russia or a Moscow-backed puppet regime.

Such an attack could be combined with an attack from the south and east – Crimea and Donbass – to hold back Ukrainian army units fighting there, preventing them from strengthening the capital.

Sabotage attacks on Kiev’s power grid, along with bombings, could also be used to sow panic and make people flee – clogging roads and making it harder for forces already in the city to move.

Russia’s plans to capture Kiev and forcibly end the war in Ukraine have been uncovered by US intelligence, which says troops and armor will be used to capture airports before a force of 10,000 paratroopers is sent to capture the city. government and force them to sign a peace agreement to regain control of Russia’s country

The Ukrainian National Guard formed in the streets of Kiev on Friday as it prepared to defend the city from Russian attack shortly before heavy gunfire and explosions were heard.

Two Ukrainian National Guards are seen taking up positions on the streets of Kiev, awaiting a Russian offensive

A Ukrainian soldier sits by the roadside in Kiev after being shot in clashes with Russians while another stands guard

Sources from American intelligence passed the plan to the American author Michael Weisswhile several Ukrainian sources also briefed journalists in the country on the plan on Friday morning.

Russia is believed to have tried to carry out the plan on the first day of the fighting, when about 20 helicopters landed a troop of troops at Antonov Airport, about 15 miles from the city center.

After a fierce day of fighting back and forth, Ukrainian National Guard troops announced they had recaptured the airport late Thursday night. The runway has been deliberately destroyed, making the airport unusable.

A second attempt to implement the plan appears to be underway on Friday, with Russian armor fighting 20 miles north of the city in the early hours.

This was followed by reports of Russian troops entering the northwestern suburbs before National Guard units were filmed deploying rifles in the streets – with explosions and gunfire heard soon after.

Then there were reports of power outages in parts of the capital, along with fighting on the road to Sikorski Airport.

Another column of Russian armor was advancing on the city from the east, but was detained after encountering heavy resistance around the city of Chernigov. It is now believed that the forces have diverted around the city, capturing Konotop, providing them with another route to the capital.

“The most difficult day will be today. The enemy’s plan is to break through with tank columns from the side of Ivankov and Chernigov to Kiev, “Interior Ministry adviser Anton Gerashchenko told Telegram.

As the Russian noose tightens around Kiev, President Joe Biden and NATO allies have tried to reassure members of the alliance’s eastern flank that their security is guaranteed as Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine approaches the capital Kiev.

Ukrainian troops occupy a position on a bridge in the city of Kiev, while the Russians advance within the city limits

Ukrainian soldiers occupy a position under a bridge during an exchange of shootings with Russians in the city of Kiev

Ukrainian soldiers take up position on the road during an exchange of shootings with Russians in the city of Kiev

After Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky called for help, NATO members, ranging from Russia’s neighboring Estonia north down the western part of conflict-affected Ukraine to Bulgaria on the Black Sea coast, called for urgent consultations on their security. Only Hungary abstains.

Leaders meeting by videoconference plan to take stock of NATO’s own military build-up. The world’s largest security organization previously had about 5,000 troops stationed in the Baltic states – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – and Poland, but has significantly strengthened its defenses over the past three months.

“Make no mistake, we will defend every ally against every attack on every inch of NATO territory,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, who will chair the summit, told reporters on Thursday. “An attack on an ally will provoke a response from the whole alliance.”

Some of NATO’s 30 members supply weapons, ammunition and other equipment to Ukraine, but NATO as an organization does not. It will not launch any military action in support of Ukraine, which is a close partner but has no prospect of joining.

However, the Baltic members said that the West “must urgently provide the Ukrainian people with weapons, ammunition and any other type of military support to protect themselves, as well as economic, financial and political assistance and support, humanitarian aid.”

NATO began strengthening its defenses in Northeast Europe after Russia annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea in 2014. Recently, some members also sent troops, planes and warships to the Black Sea region, near allies Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey.

In the short term, NATO is activating an emergency planning system to allow commanders to move forces more quickly. The Pentagon said Thursday it was sending 7,000 troops to Europe in addition to 5,000 recently deployed.

Ukrainian soldiers inspect a bullet-ridden vehicle they say was driven by Russian saboteurs dressed in Ukrainian army uniforms who were discovered and then shot.

Ukrainian military medic approaches the bodies of Russian servicemen dressed in Ukrainian uniforms lying next to and inside a vehicle after being shot during a clash in the Ukrainian capital Kiev

NATO reconnaissance planes have started patrolling Allied territory. The planes will be able to monitor the movement of Russian fighter jets and vehicles in Ukraine, just as they watched the planes in Syria from Turkish airspace.

Leaders are likely to consider on Friday whether to activate the NATO Response Force, which can number up to 40,000 troops. A rapidly deploying ground brigade, part of the NRF – made up of 5,000 troops and commanded by France along with Germany, Poland, Portugal and Spain – is now on high alert.

Lithuania declared a state of emergency on Thursday after Russian President Vladimir Putin deployed troops to Ukraine. Lithuania borders the Kaliningrad region of Russia to the southwest, Belarus to the east, Latvia to the north and Poland to the south.

The Baltic side’s move allows for more flexible use of state reserve funds and increased border protection, giving border guards greater powers to stop and search people and vehicles in border areas.

“We cannot accept the luxury of being a discussion club,” Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said last night at an extraordinary summit of European Union leaders to impose a “high price” on Russia through sanctions. We need to take action.

A severe winter storm is expected to create hazardous travel conditions and increase the risk of power outages across much of the Northeast on Friday, meteorologists said.

The storm could bring anywhere from six inches to over a foot of snow from downtown New York to central New England before fading overnight, the National Weather Service said Friday morning. Freezing rain could see quarter-inch-thick ice hit roads from Pennsylvania through southern New England, according to forecasters.

Western Pennsylvania could face “particularly hazardous travel” and “probable local power outages,” the weather service said. From eastern Pennsylvania to Connecticut, “traveling over rough surfaces will be dangerous.” forecasters warned.

The storm began moving into the region early Friday morning after it hit the Southern Plains all the way to the Ohio Valley on Thursday. In the Ohio and Tennessee valleys, where about seven million people were under flood watch Thursday, heavy rain is expected to ease early Friday morning, forecasters said.

Much of the United States will be shaking with below-average temperatures this weekend, according to forecasters. Exceptions will be in the southern mid-Atlantic and southeast, where temperatures are expected to be well above average.

James Connolly, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in New York, said Thursday the system will bring mixed weather to the New York region.

“Snow will disturb first, then it will turn into a winter mix, and then into rain,” he said, adding that coastal areas may experience the least amount of snow. About three inches of snow is expected in the New York area, while parts of Connecticut and the Lower Hudson Valley could get up to six inches, he said.

By Thursday evening, snow had already made its way to parts of Illinois, including Chicago and Iowa. weather service said the road conditions were rapidly deteriorating.

More than a quarter of an inch of ice glazing was likely across the Ozarks and southeast Missouri, according to forecasters.

The East Coast has seen active weather this winter.

In early January, successive storms created dangerous driving conditions in the mid-Atlantic and northeast, including one weather system that stuck hundreds of drivers on Interstate 95 in Virginia. more than 24 hours. The storm captured truckers, students, families and all commuters, including Senator Tim Kaine.

In the middle of January another storm hit the south, killing at least two people and leaving thousands without power before moving north and unleashing heavy snowfall across parts of the northeast and Canada. Another January storm swept across the East Coast, causing the cancellation of thousands of flights and forcing the governors of New York and New Jersey to declare a state of emergency. This storm dropped more than 30 inches snow in parts of Massachusetts.

While some may be hoping a hurricane will end the winter season this week, Mr. Connolly warned people not to put away their shovels.

“March tends to be pretty rough,” he said. “You can’t say it’s the last one.”

Alyssa Loukpat and Jesus Jimenez provided reporting.

“Everyone has many, many feelings,” says Rebecca Rosler, 42, founder of a Facebook group called “Into the unknown” which she conceived in the spring of 2020 for “those of us who have decided or are considering – willingly or unwittingly – to join the exodus from New York to greener pastures.”

The group, which has 13,500 members, is closed to journalists, so Ms Rosler summed up the mood. At one extreme are New Yorkers who have been pushed by the pandemic to prematurely pursue their dream of leaving the city and who have not been disappointed; at the other extreme are those who ran more impulsively and seek to return.

“Leaving broke their personality,” she said.

Jasmine Trabelsi, 42, belongs to a group of malcontents on Ms Rosler’s spectrum. In the fall of 2020, she and her husband, residents of Williamsburg in Brooklyn who both work in high-tech, closed a three-bedroom home in Woodstock, New York. Having already enrolled his 8-year-old daughter in a local school. school, they put themselves at the mercy of a salesperson who gave them two of the 15-minute viewing slots and accepted their mid-$600,000 offer.

Their sense of triumph did not last long. “We had a couple of friends in the area, but Covid is not the right time to move to a place where you don’t have a community,” Ms Trabelsi said.

Many of the nearby houses were owned by seasonal residents or by locals who rented them, so there was a sense of transience in the area. And their own precarious status as pandemic fugitives who can stay or go is discouraging easy attachments. A sense of unsettledness made Woodstock seem more like a vacation spot to Mrs. Trabelsi than a home.

In addition, they were on top of a mountain, and the businesses and services (when they were open) seemed remote.

WASHINGTON. On Friday, a House committee expanded its investigation into the destruction and removal of documents from the White House by former President Donald Trump, demanding more information about classified material found on Trump’s Florida property and reports that aides found documents at the White House. toilet during his stay in the office.

In a letter to the National Archivist, Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, Democrat of New York State and Chair of the Oversight Committee, said the commission wanted a detailed description of the contents of the 15 boxes seized at Mar-a-Lago. Trump’s Palm Beach complex, including their level of classification and any records he “teared, destroyed, mutilated, or attempted to tear, destroy, or mutilate.” She also said the commission needed documents “related to White House employees or contractors who found paper in a White House toilet, including at the White House residence.”

The letter also requested information on the results of any federal investigations into classified material and any communication to Mr. Trump about the Presidential Records Act or the White House’s record-keeping policy.

“The American people deserve to know the extent of what former President Trump did to cover up and destroy federal records and make sure these abuses don’t happen again,” Ms. Maloney said in a statement.

National Archives confirmed in Miss Maloney’s letter last week that she discovered classified information among materials Mr. Trump took with him to his Florida home when he left office last year, and that she consulted with the Justice Department on the matter.

The archives did not describe the classified material found, except that it was “national security classified information.”

The National Archives also reported in his letter that the Trump White House did not hand over the tapes, which included “certain social media posts.”

David S. Ferriero, National Archivist, also wrote that “some White House staff conducted official business using unofficial email accounts that were not copied or forwarded to their official email accounts.” The archives said they are in the process of getting some of these records.

Attorney General Merrick B. Garland this week declined to say whether the Justice Department had launched an investigation into Mr. Trump’s handling of classified information.

“As the archivist said in a letter that was sent to Congress, the National Archives has informed and contacted the Justice Department,” Mr. Garland told reporters. “And we will do what we always do in these circumstances — look at the facts and the law and proceed from there.”

Trump’s penchant for breaking presidential records has been exposed in 2018 Politico articlebut over the past few weeks, a series of revelations have raised new questions about the Trump administration’s failure to follow through. federal business laws and his dealings with classified information when Mr Trump left office.

The book, due to be released by a New York Times reporter in October, tells how staff at the White House residence periodically found wads of printed paper clogging the toilet, leading them to believe Mr. Trump was trying to flush them.

In a statement last week, Mr. Trump said the files were turned over to the archives as part of a “usual and routine process” and suggested that Democrats’ attempts to raise questions about his handling of the documents were fraudulent.

“Fake news gives the impression that I, as President of the United States, worked in a filing cabinet,” he said.

In December 2020, Ms. Maloney warned that she believed the Trump administration was not complying with the Presidential Records Act. She wrote letter to mr ferriero voicing what she called “serious concerns” that the outgoing administration “may not properly keep the records and may dispose of them”.

Miss Maloney announced this month that it has launched an investigationafter The Washington Post reported that Mr. Trump was destruction of documents and move the crates to his property in Florida instead of archiving them.

Florida passed a law banning the discussion of sexual orientation and sex identity in the classrooms of the primary school.

The bill, dubbed “Don’t say gay” by its critics, stops school districts from encouraging any discussion of topics in a way that is inappropriate for students.

Opponents of the law, which was passed by the House of Representatives on Thursday by 69 to 47 votes, warn it would mean that LGBTQ’s identity, history and culture will be erased.

And on the White House criticized the law, which is expected to take effect on July 1st, and said it was “intended to attack” LGBT youth.

The bill, dubbed “Don’t say gay” by its critics, stops school districts from encouraging any discussion on topics in a way that is inappropriate for students.

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis said schools should avoid “completely inappropriate” topics and teach science and history instead.

This comes after a new Gallup poll last week found that more than twice as many Americans in the United States say they identify as LGBTQ than they did a decade ago.

A record 7.1 percent of Americans identify as heterosexual, lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendera percentage that has risen from 3.5 percent of Americans in 2012. It has been steadily rising since the poll began.

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis said schools should avoid “completely inappropriate” topics and teach science and history instead, according to BBC.

Nadine Smith, executive director of Equality Florida, said: “What we are seeing is the systematic deletion or elimination of resources for young people and the order imposed on teachers.”

The bill was passed after an amendment that would require schools to “take out” their parents’ students if they identify as LGBTQ within six weeks was withdrawn on Tuesday.

This comes after a new Gallup poll last week found that more than twice as many Americans in the United States say they identify as LGBTQ than they did a decade ago.

The amendment, proposed by Republican Joe Harding on Friday, was withdrawn from a controversial bill that has been criticized by LGBTQ groups and President Joe Biden as “dangerous”, “deeply fanatical” and “hated”.

And the bill even allows parents to sue school districts that encourage talking about such issues.

DeSantis said: “Parents need to take a seat at the table when it comes to what is happening in their schools.”

Shane Medley told NY Daily News“Florida’s Don’t Say Gay bill reflects another attempt to censor discussions in schools about people and issues that conservative legislators don’t favor, under the guise of parental rights.”

The bill was passed in Florida just one month after English teacher Loris Caldeira at Buena Vista High School in Sprekel’s, California, was stopped after she and fellow teacher Kelly Baraki, 39, were recorded in a discussion about “stalking.” students online to find recruits for You Be Your Club.

The couple also encourages students to keep discussions hidden from their parents.

Lori Caldeira was removed from her post at Buena Vista Middle School in Sprekel’s, California, after she and her fellow teacher Kelly Baraki were recorded to discuss how students were “stalking” online.

Teacher Kelly Baraki, 39, slammed the door of her home in Salinas, California, when DailyMail.com approached her and asked her to give her version of events.

Last December, mother Jessica Conen accused the couple of encouraging their daughter to think she was a trans boy when she was in school in 2019 – only to return the child to her female persona while studying remotely during Covid-19 pandemic.

The You Be You Club has since been closed by the school with 360 students, while Caldeira and Baraki have been suspended pending an investigation. “The staff concerned has been placed on administrative leave,” a statement from the school district said.

Konen has now filed a lawsuit against the school and the two seventh-grade teachers, claiming that they kept her daughter’s fake trance identity a secret from her and hid the fact that she had suicidal thoughts. Now the girl is studying in a high school in another area.

In her court documents, Koren says that her daughter, identified by her initials, AG, found it difficult to distance learning, “but she had a silver lining – because AG was at home all day, she was no longer in the hands of Mr. Mrs. Caldiera (sic) and Mrs. Baraki. Freed from their influence, AG began to return to her old self.

WASHINGTON. Roger J. Stone Jr., a close associate of former President Donald J. Trump, sued members of a House committee investigating the January 6 Capitol attack Thursday, asking a federal court to stop them from receiving logs of his text messages and phone calls as part of that , which he considered an attempt to persecute him and other conservatives.

With the lawsuit, which also includes Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Mr. Stone has joined at least 19 potential witnesses who are challenging the committee’s subpoenas, although the judges are still on the side of the panel, ruling that congressional investigators have broad authority to access evidence for investigation. Among those who are trying to use the courts to block the committee, Mark Meadows, former White House Chief of Staff, and low-level witnesses who helped organize the rally in Washington before the Capitol riot.

Mr Stone’s lawsuit criticized the legitimacy of the investigation and argued that the committee’s request for his negotiation records was “too broad”. Specifically, he objected to a subpoena the commission sent to AT&T this month that required access to his mobile phone data, including “all calls, text messages, and other conversation records” associated with his number.

He also requested information about his IP addresses, which identify devices on the network; billing addresses; contact list; communication session time; and other metadata covering a wide time period from the 2020 election to weeks after the Capitol violence: November 1, 2020 to January 31, 2021.

The lawsuit also alleged that the commission targeted Mr. Stone because he was part of the conservative movement.

“The Select Committee is vetting the plaintiff because of his political opinions,” the statement said, claiming without evidence that the information would be used to create a “massive database” to track down Mr. Stone and his associates who believe in ” fairness of elections. or “government skepticism”.

Committee investigators consider Mr. Stone an important witness for several reasons, including because he may be the only one the committee calls to court, has relationships with some of the most prominent political organizers and far-right groups involved in the rallies that preceded the Attack on the Capitol.

In a civil lawsuit decision last week, a federal judge in Washington noted that Mr. Stone was in contact with the leader of the Proud Boys militia group and then used the Oathkeepers as his bodyguard at the Jan. 6 rally. 2021. Members of the Oath were accused of mutiny over what prosecutors say was their wide-ranging plot to storm the Capitol that day and disrupt the formal congressional vote count to confirm Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s election victory.

“Stone’s ties to both the president and these groups in the days leading up to January 6 are public knowledge,” Judge Amit P. Mehta said. wrote as he allowed civil lawsuits against Mr. Trump over Jan. 6 to move forward. “The discovery could prove that this connection is important.”

In December, Mr Stone Appeared Before the Board of Testimony but invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination on each of the commission’s questions because, he said, he feared Democrats would fabricate perjury charges.

Capitol Riot Aftermath: Key Events

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Ivanka Trump. Former President Donald Trump’s eldest daughter, who was one of his senior advisers, is reportedly in talks with the House committee investigating the January 6 Capitol attack about the possibility of sits on an interview with a panel.

Civil lawsuits. federal judge in Washington rules this three civil suits against Mr. Trump in connection with the attack on the Capitol on January 6 can move forward. The ruling means plaintiffs can ask the former president for information about his role in the events.

classified information. The National Archives stated that disclosed classified information among the documents Mr. Trump took with him from the White House when he left office. The discovery raises new doubts about how the former president handled government documents.

Mr. Stone said he was leaving town as rioters stormed the Capitol and said he denounced the day’s violence as “illegal and politically counterproductive.”

“I didn’t go to the Capitol. I was not in the Capitol,” he said.

The committee is looking into not only those who committed the violence, but also how the plans came about to gather a crowd at the Capitol.

Mr Stone and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones were among a group of Trump allies gathered in and around him. Willard InterContinental Hotel outside the White House the day before the riot, a meeting place that the committee sees as unofficial headquarters for plans to cancel elections.

He was saw his Nixon victory branding flashing supporters, and was also photographed January 5 with Michael T. Flynn, a former national security adviser who also subpoenaed as well as sued the committee.

A spokeswoman for the committee declined to comment on Mr. Stone’s claim.

Diplomatic contacts between the Biden administration and China in an attempt to prevent a war began after President Biden and Mr Xi will take place video summit 15th of November. In conversation, the two leaders acknowledged problems in relations between their countries, which are at their lowest point in decades, but agreed to try to work together on issues of mutual interest, including health security, climate change and nuclear proliferation, White House officials said while.

After the meeting, US officials decided that the Russian troop build-up around Ukraine was the most pressing issue that China and the United States could try to solve together. Some officials believe that the results of the video summit indicate the potential for improvement in US-China relations. Others were more skeptical but felt it was important to do everything possible to prevent a Russian attack, one official said.

Understand Russia’s Attack on Ukraine

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What is at the heart of this invasion? Russia considers Ukraine a part his natural sphere of influence, and is unnerved by Ukraine’s proximity to the West and the prospect of Ukraine joining NATO or the European Union. Although Ukraine is not part of either, it receives financial and military assistance from the US and Europe.

Are these frictions just beginning now? Antagonism between the two countries has simmered since 2014, when Russian troops crossed into Ukraine after an uprising in Ukraine replaced a Russian-friendly president with a pro-Western government. Then, Russia annexed Crimea and inspired separatist movement in the east. A ceasefire was signed in 2015but fighting continued.

How did Ukraine react? February 23, Ukraine declared a state of emergency for 30 days. when cyberattacks took out state institutions. After the attacks began, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky martial law declared. The foreign minister called the attacks a “full-scale invasion” and called on the world to “stop Putin.”

A few days later, White House officials met with Ambassador Qin Gang at the Chinese Embassy. They told the ambassador what the US intelligence agencies had recorded: the gradual encirclement of Ukraine by Russian troops, including armored units. William J. Burns, director of the CIA, flew to Moscow on November 2 to provide the Russians with the same information, and on November 17, representatives of American intelligence shared their findings with NATO.

In the Chinese embassy, ​​Russian aggression became the first topic of discussion, which lasted more than an hour and a half. In addition to the intelligence presentation, White House officials told the ambassador that the United States would impose tough sanctions on Russian companies, officials and businessmen in the event of an invasion, far beyond those announced by the Obama administration after Russia took over Ukraine. Crimean peninsula in 2014.

US officials said the sanctions would also hurt China over time because of its commercial ties.

They also indicated that they knew how China helped Russia avoid some of the 2014 sanctions and cautioned Beijing against any such assistance in the future. And they argued that since China is widely viewed as Russia’s partner, its global image could suffer if Mr. Putin invades.

The message was clear: it is in China’s interest to convince Mr. Putin to step down. But their prayers came to nothing. Mr. Qin was skeptical and suspicious, the US official said.