The White House announced on Thursday (17th) that U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping will call on Friday (18th) to discuss issues such as U.S.-China competition and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This is the first time the two have spoken on the phone since the Russian-Ukrainian war broke out in three weeks.
U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Biden would make it clear to China that China would be held responsible for any assistance to Russia, but he did not say what the price might be for China.
Blinken said China has a responsibility to use its leverage over Putin and defend international rules, but for now, Beijing appears to be moving in the opposite direction.
“We are concerned that China is considering direct supply of Russian military equipment for the Ukrainian war.”
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said it was part of an effort to keep the lines of communication open, and the two would discuss issues of mutual concern such as managing competition between the U.S. and China and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
It has been three weeks since the Russian-Ukrainian war. China said that it had tried to stop the conflict through diplomatic means. The United States was worried that the Beijing government might help Russia to evade Western economic sanctions, and even provided fire support to Russia. Before the Russian-Ukrainian war broke out, China and Russia had China has said that there is no restricted area in the friendship between the two countries.
In this regard, China denied supporting the Russian-Ukrainian war, and also denied that it secretly extended a hand to Russia to help evade economic sanctions and fire support. The Kremlin also said that relevant reports were false.
However, since the Russian-Ukrainian war, China has not publicly condemned Russia, and U.S. officials have repeatedly warned that there will be consequences for assisting Russia, but China has not changed its position.
Friday’s phone call was the second meeting between Biden and Xi since mid-November last year, and it was the first time the two discussed the situation in Russia following Russia invaded Ukraine.