在拜登政府警告中国正在权衡是否向俄罗斯提供致命援助对于他们在乌克兰的战争，白宫国家安全顾问周日表示，“在这一点上”，他们“没有看到他们采取向莫斯科提供武器的步骤”。
“我们正在密切关注，”杰克·沙利文告诉美国广播公司“本周”的联合主播玛莎·拉达兹。“我们知道他们还没有放弃。和我们的欧洲盟友一样，我们正在发出一个明确的信息，那就是这将是一个真正的错误，因为这些武器将被用来轰炸城市和杀害平民，中国不应该想参与其中。”
沙利文说，很难说中国是否“支持，放弃”这一决定，但“我可以说的是，到目前为止，我们还没有看到他们这样做。”
中国官员为他们与俄罗斯的关系辩护，称其“建立在不结盟、不对抗和不针对第三国的基础上”
但是乔·拜登总统上周接受美国广播公司的大卫·穆尔采访时说如果北京继续运送武器，美国随时准备做出回应。
沙利文在“本周”节目中说，尽管总统弗拉基米尔·泽伦斯基(Volodymyr Zelenskyy)一再要求，拜登已经排除了向乌克兰提供F-16战斗机的可能性。他称之为“以后的问题”
沙利文说，美国政府目前的重点是帮助乌克兰人在南部和东部地区“夺回领土”。
当被问及美国是否有可能在未来提供F-16时，沙利文重申，白宫一直在优先考虑这场战争的迫切需求，并将继续这样做。
“在这场战争的每个阶段，总统都试图确保乌克兰军方得到他们需要的东西。在第一阶段，当他们保卫基辅时，那是标枪反坦克武器和毒刺防空系统。这很有效。它帮助乌克兰保卫了基辅。在第二阶段，重炮帮助他们抵御俄罗斯在乌克兰东部的推进。在这一阶段，关键要素是地面机动能力。这意味着坦克、装甲运兵车、步兵战车，”沙利文说。“因此，总统的意思是，他将重点放在这些能力上。”
Raddatz进一步追问美国最终可能批准战斗机的可能性-这一举动不仅得到了Zelenskyy的支持，而且包括众议院外交事务委员会主席Michael McCaul - Sullivan在内的一些主要立法者告诉她，“当他们到来时，我们将跨越这场战争未来阶段的桥梁。”
国务卿安东尼·布林肯一周前告诉Raddatz在“本周”节目中，拜登没有向乌克兰提供F-16战斗机的一个原因是因为需要培训和维护。
“那么为什么现在不教他们呢?因此，如果他们需要，如果你想在未来批准，他们会让他们准备好，”拉达茨对沙利文说。
“从我们的角度来看，我们能做的最重要的事情是确保我们继续关注最重要的事情，老实说，玛莎，现在最重要的事情是尽快建立他们的能力，解除乌克兰那些仍被俄罗斯军队残酷血腥占领的地区的占领，”他说。“我们预计，这将是乌克兰人的核心关注点，也是我们在未来几周和几个月对乌克兰人的支持。”
在这张2022年12月12日的资料照片中，白宫国家安全顾问杰克·沙利文在华盛顿特区的白宫每日简报会上发言
苏珊·沃尔什/美联社，档案
今年1月，拜登批准向乌克兰运送31辆艾布拉姆斯坦克，但上周，陆军部长克里斯蒂娜·沃穆斯(Christine Wormuth)表示，这些车辆今年甚至可能不会到达该国。
“如果你不及时批准它们，不加快速度把这些东西送到那里，那又有什么用呢?”拉达茨在“本周”节目中问道
沙利文为这一决定进行了辩护，称释放艾布拉姆斯坦克是与德国协调完成的，作为一个先决条件，因此他们将把德国制造的豹坦克派往战场，这将更快到达。
他说这是“乔·拜登召集全球联盟让乌克兰得到它所需要的东西的一个例子。”
“总统说，‘好吧，我将成为自由世界的领袖，如果你现在派出美洲豹，我将派出艾布拉姆斯。’"
另外，在美国领空击落一个疑似中国间谍气球和北美上空三个不明飞行物之后，没有其他军方击落任何可能威胁的事件。
Raddatz问这是否是因为雷达再次被重新计算，但Sullivan说NORAD指挥官“没有重新校准我们的雷达”
“我们继续对进入美国领土的不明物体保持警惕，”他说。“我们在拜登总统的指示下所做的事情，玛莎，是为我们何时对一个物体采取致命行动，击落它，而不是以其他方式处理它，制定了一套政策参数。”
政府官员对另外三个物体的“主要解释”是它们是商业或民用气球有说
China hasn't yet provided weapons to Russia in Ukraine, but doing so would be 'real mistake': Sullivan
Following warnings from the Biden administration that Chinais weighing whether to provide Russia with lethal aidfor their war in Ukraine, the White House's national security adviser said Sunday that "at this point" they have "not seen them take the step of providing weapons" to Moscow.
"We are watching closely," Jake Sullivan told ABC "This Week" co-anchor Martha Raddatz. "We know they haven't taken it off the table. And we are sending a clear message, as are our European allies, that this would be a real mistake because those weapons would be used to bombard cities and kill civilians, and China should want no part of that."
Sullivan said it was difficult to say whether China is "backing on, backing off" of the decision but that "what I can say is so far, we have not seen them do it."
Chinese officials have defended their relationship with Russia as "built on the basis of non-alliance, non-confrontation and non-targeting of third countries."
But President Joe Bidentold ABC's David Muir in an interview last weekthat the U.S. stood ready to respond if Beijing moved forward with sending weapons.
Biden has ruled out giving Ukraine F-16 fighter jets "for now," despite repeated requests from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Sullivan said on "This Week." He called it a "question for later."
Sullivan said that the U.S. government's focus right now is to help Ukrainians "retake territory on the ground" in its southern and eastern territories.
Asked if it's possible the U.S. provides F-16s in the future, Sullivan reiterated that that the White House has been prioritizing the immediate needs of this war and will continue to do so.
"Every phase of this war, the president has tried to make sure that the Ukrainian military gets what they need. In the first phase, as they were defending Kyiv, that was Javelin anti-tank weapons and Stinger anti-air systems. And that worked. It helped Ukraine defend Kyiv. In the second phase, it was heavy artillery to help them hold against the Russians pushing in eastern Ukraine. In this phase, the critical element is ground maneuver capability. And that means tanks, armored personnel carriers, infantry fighting vehicles," Sullivan said. "And so what the president is saying is he's focused on those capabilities."
Pressed further by Raddatz on the possibility the U.S. could eventually approve fighter jets -- a move endorsed not just by Zelenskyy but some leading lawmakers like House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul -- Sullivan told her, "We will cross the bridge of future phases of this war when they come."
Secretary of State Antony Blinkentold Raddatz a week ago, on "This Week," that one reason Biden is not supplying Ukraine with F-16s is because of the required training and maintenance.
"So why not teach them now? So if they need them, if you want to approve it in the future, they'll have them ready to go," Raddatz said to Sullivan.
"From our perspective, the most important thing that we can do is make sure that we maintain focus on what is the highest priority and honestly, Martha, the highest priority right now is to move as rapidly as possible to build up their capacity to de-occupy those portions of Ukraine that are still being occupied brutally and bloodily by Russian forces," he said. "We expect that that will be the central focus of the Ukrainians as well as of our support for the Ukrainians in the weeks and months ahead."
In January, Biden approved 31 Abrams tanks to be sent to Ukraine, but last week the Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth said those vehicles may not even get to the country this year.
"How is that helpful if you don't approve them in time and get the speed to get things like that over there?" Raddatz asked on "This Week."
Sullivan defended the decision, saying the release of Abrams tanks was done in coordination with Germany as a precondition so they would send German-made Leopard tanks to the battlefield, which will arrive much more quickly.
He said this was "an example of Joe Biden rallying the global coalition to get Ukraine what it needs."
"The president said, 'OK, I'm going to be the leader of the free world, I will send Abrams down the road if you send Leopards now.'"
Separately, following the shoot-down of a suspected Chinese spy balloon over U.S. airspace and three unidentified flying objects over North America, there have been no other instances of the military downing any possible threats.
Raddatz asked if this was because radar has been recalculated once again, but Sullivan said the NORAD Commander "has not recalibrated our radar."
"We continue to be vigilant for unidentified objects coming into U.S. territory," he said. "What we did do at President Biden's direction, Martha, is put in place a set of policy parameters for when we would take lethal action against an object, to shoot it down, as opposed to deal with it in other ways."
A "leading explanation" for the three additional objects is that they were commercial or civilian balloons, government officialshave said.
