China has maintained its neutrality when it comes to votes condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and this stance drew criticism from the United States of America on Monday.

State Department spokesman Ned Price said that China should choose to repudiate "Kremlin propaganda" just as other countries have done.

"Not only have we not seen China condemn, as all countries should, the brutality that Russian forces are employing in Ukraine against the Ukrainian people," Price said during a press conference.

"In fact, we have heard some senior Chinese officials repeat some of the most dangerous propaganda emanating from the Kremlin," he added.

Washington has repeatedly warned China about the consequences of offering military or economic support to Moscow and has urged the Asian power to play a more active role in preventing Russia's military invasion of Ukraine, which began on February 24.

Ned Price stressed that this "is a moment" when all "responsible countries" have an "obligation to make clear where they stand on issues where the nuances don't fit," giving as an example "the slaughter of civilians and gratuitous human rights abuses" by Russian forces in Ukraine.

Last week, US President Joe Biden communicated to his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, the sending of an additional $800 million military assistance package, with more lethal weapons, to confront Russia in the new phase of the invasion more focused on the Donbass in eastern Ukraine.