China reportedly asked Russia to hold off on Ukraine invasion until after Winter Olympics

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
(Image credit: Alexei Druzhinin/AFP via Getty Images)

According to a Western intelligence report, in early February senior Chinese officials told their Russian counterparts not to invade Ukraine prior to the end of the Winter Olympics in Beijing, senior Biden administration officials and a European official told The New York Times.

Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Feb. 4, ahead of the opening ceremony of the Olympics. In a joint statement, the leaders said the bond between their countries has "no limits," and they decried the expansion of NATO.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.