US Department of State building in Washington DC. File photoWASHINGTON, Jun 16The US does not believe China's claims of neutrality in the Ukraine conflict and believes it is siding with Russia, State Department spokesman Ned Price said. months since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, China, despite all the disasters created there, the loss of life, the global consequences, including for food security … still prefers to side with Russia,» he said at a media briefing. 
China is ready to support Russia in matters of sovereignty, Xi Jinping said»China's position of neutrality is nothing more than an empty statement,» Price added. Russia began military operation in Ukraine on February 24. President Vladimir Putin called its goal «the protection of people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kyiv regime for eight years.» For this, according to him, it is planned to carry out «demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine», to bring to justice all war criminals responsible for «bloody crimes against civilians» in Donbass. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Armed Forces strike only at military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops and , on March 25, completed the main tasks of the first stage — significantly reduced the combat potential of Ukraine. The main goal in the Russian military department was called the liberation of Donbass.
