While Russian forces continue to bombard Ukrainian population centers (while an attack on a nuclear power plant last night turned out to be far less destructive than initially reported), American bureaucrats are already looking past the invasion in Ukraine to focus on China and its continuing support for President Vladimir Putin.

To wit, the SCMP reported Friday that State Department counselor Derek Chollet warned that there will be serious consequences for Beijing if it helps Moscow in evading sanctions.

If China tries to help Russia evade sanctions in the wake of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, it will face countermeasures, a senior US State Department official said on Thursday, without providing details.

State Department counsellor Derek Chollet said the allied nations that have joined in sanctioning Russia represent a combined 50 per cent of the global economy; China accounts for around 15 per cent.

"China, if it were to seek to evade the sanctions, or somehow dividing the sanctions, they would be vulnerable," he said. "Any country that tries to evade these sanctions will also face the consequences of its actions. I don't want to speculate with that would be."