Biden presses China’s Xi on Russia support
President Biden speaks with Chinese President Xi Jinping.[White House]
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and China’s Xi Jinping spoke Friday for nearly two hours via a video call as the White House looks to deter Beijing from providing military or economic assistance for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
China’s Foreign Ministry was the first to issue a readout of the conversation, deploring “conflict and confrontation” as “not in anyone’s interest,” without assigning any blame to Russia.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying in a Twitter message called the U.S. position “overbearing.”
Ahead of the call, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden would question Xi about Beijing’s “rhetorical support” of Putin and an “absence of denunciation” of Russia’s invasion.