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China is considering giving Russia weapons and ammunition for the Ukraine war, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said. Mr Blinken told CBS News that Chinese companies were already providing "non-lethal support" to Russia - and new information suggested Beijing could provide "lethal support". This escalation would mean "serious consequences" for China, he warned. China has denied reports that Moscow has requested military equipment. Chinese President Xi Jinping is an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and is yet to condemn Russia's invasion - but he has sought to remain neutral in the conflict and has called for peace....

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” that it would be “dumber than dirt” for China to give lethal support to Russia for the Ukraine war. Anchor Martha Raddatz said, “I want to turn to China. The U.S. says it does not have a spy balloon program, but given what has happened, are you worried that China has surpassed the U.S. in this so-called near space?”

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says China is considering providing weapons to Russia in its war against Ukraine, warning Beijing that any supplies would "cause a serious problem." "The concern we have now is based on information we have that they're considering providing lethal support," Blinken tells CBS's "Face The Nation"....

The Russian economy contracted steeply in the second quarter as the economic consequences of its war in Ukraine took hold. The economy shrank 4 percent from April through June compared with a year ago, the Russian statistics agency said on Friday. It is the first quarterly gross domestic product report to fully capture the change in the economy since the invasion of Ukraine in February, when Western sanctions shut Russia off from much of the global financial system, and many countries severed trading relationships with Moscow. It was also a sharp reversal from the first quarter, when the economy rose...