The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is sending mixed signals about its commitment to uphold international sanctions against Russia, following the latter’s invasion of Ukraine. The CCP regime has enacted some sanctions and lifted others. Two of China’s largest state-owned banks restricted financing for purchases of Russian commodities on Feb. 25, following an announcement of a number of sanctions by the United States and its allies in response to the ongoing war in Ukraine. The CCP appears to be taking measures to ease that hardship on Russia, however, and it is unclear how the CCP will respond to recent developments including the United States and allied sanctions on Russian President Vladimir Putin himself. Notably, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and the Bank of China both restricted financing of dollar-denominated purchases from Russia. Chinese importers of crude oil, of which Chine is the world’s largest purchaser, were paused as buyers …