Washington: Beijing's support for Moscow in the Ukraine file is worrying, and Putin may act without warning

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said that "China's tacit support for Russia in the Ukrainian file is very worrying," at a time when Western countries fear a Russian military attack on Ukraine.

The Pentagon announced Monday that China's "tacit" support for Russia in the Ukrainian file is "very worrying", at a time when Western countries fear a Russian military attack on Ukraine.

"This support is frankly the most destabilizing of the security situation in Europe," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told a news conference.

In another context, he added: "We shared with Ukraine our assessment of the intelligence we obtained and expressed to them our grave concern about the increase in Russian military capabilities on their borders."

"It is very likely that Putin will act without warning," he said, noting that "Russia is taking measures to get Ukraine to respond, thus creating a pretext to attack."

"Up until the last 24 hours, Putin increased the crowds and increased preparations. We believe that he has not made his final decision yet," he explained.

The Taliban threatens to "reconsider" its policy towards Washington due to the freezing of Afghan assets

The Taliban threatened Monday to reconsider its policy toward the United States if Washington did not reverse its decision to seize $7 billion in funds from the Afghan Central Bank.

The Taliban announced Monday in a statement that Afghanistan will be "compelled to reconsider its policy toward the United States, if Washington does not reverse its decision to seize seven billion dollars of funds from the Afghan Central Bank," half of which will be allocated to the families of the victims of September 11, 2001.

"The 9/11 attacks have absolutely nothing to do with Afghanistan. If the United States does not change its position and continues its provocative steps, the Islamic Emirate will be forced to reconsider its policy towards the United States," the Taliban's assistant spokesman said in an official statement posted on Twitter.

And the US government announced Friday that it is seeking to release half of the assets of the Central Bank of Afghanistan frozen on its soil, which amount to seven billion dollars to help the Afghan people until a judicial decision is issued, while holding the remaining amount to cover lawsuits filed by the victims of September 11th.

Washington froze Afghan funds held in the United States after the Taliban's military takeover in August, but has faced increasing pressure to find a way to release the funds without recognizing the Taliban, which says the money belongs to the Afghan people.