The Beijing Winter Olympics could affect the timing of Russia's possible invasion of Ukraine, as China would apparently be upset to see the events coincide, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said Wednesday.
The Olympic Games are slated to be held from Feb. 4 to Feb. 20 and Russian President Vladimir Putin has reportedly expressed willingness to attend the opening ceremony of the global sporting event.
During an online event hosted by a Ukraine-related group, Sherman said there is "every indication" that Putin is going to use military force against Ukraine "sometime perhaps (between) now and the middle of February."
Noting that the Russian leader is expected to attend the opening ceremony on Feb. 4, she said, "I think that probably (Chinese) President Xi Jinping would not be ecstatic if Putin chose that moment to invade Ukraine," she said.
"So that may affect his timing and his thinking."
Fears have been growing for the United States and its allies in Europe that Russia may further invade Ukraine following its annexation of Crimea in 2014, as Moscow amasses troops on the border.
Washington has been warning Moscow that any move by Russian forces across the Ukraine border will be met with a "swift, severe, and united response" from the United States as well as from its allies and partners, including through economic sanctions.
Sherman said the United States is preparing for all kinds of scenarios ranging from a "full-on invasion" to "hybrid attacks or subversion or sabotage or coercion."
Further invading Ukraine "breaches all of the principles of international security and says that another country can act with impunity, which has tremendous consequences for Ukraine and Europe," the diplomat said.
It also sends "a message to the entire world that other autocrats can act with such impunity and go past long-held international principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity and an ability of a country to choose its own alliances," she told the Yalta European Strategy forum.
Moscow has denied having any intention to invade Ukraine, instead seeking to blame the escalating tensions on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and Ukraine, which aspires to join the alliance. Russia has also demanded security guarantees such as precluding NATO's expansion to Ukraine and refraining from military activities there.
