US President Joe Biden warned his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Friday of the “implications and consequences” for China if he offers “material support” to Russia amid its “brutal” attack on Ukraine, the White House said.
The virtual meeting, the first between the two leaders since last November, focused on the Russian invasion of Ukraine and lasted about two hours, according to the official note.
Biden “outlined” to Xi “the implications and consequences if China offers material support to Russia while it carries out brutal attacks on Ukrainian cities and civilians.”
The US president then underlined “his support for a diplomatic resolution of the crisis” and the two leaders “agreed on the importance of keeping the line of communication open to manage the competition between the two countries.”
In a call with journalists to comment on the meeting between Biden and Xi, a senior White House official, who requested anonymity, assured that the conversation between the two leaders had been “direct, substantive and detailed.”
The United States has repeatedly warned Beijing that there will be “costs” if it offers help to Moscow in the face of extraordinary sanctions applied by the international community to suffocate the Russian economy in retaliation for the invasion of Ukraine.
For now, however, China has denied that it will offer Russia military or economic assistance to support its forces in the Ukraine invasion.