US President Joe Biden said he was “hopeful” China will not provide support for Russia’s war on Ukraine because of the depth of its economic ties with the West. Speaking at Nato headquarters in Brussels on Thursday evening, Biden said: “China understands its economic future is more closely tied to the West than it is to Russia.” He said he had reminded Chinese President Xi Jinping of the economic dynamic during a “very straightforward conversation” the two had last week. “I made it clear to him, I made no threats, but I made it clear to him … made sure he understood the consequences of him helping Russia, as had been reported, and as was expected,” Biden said. While China is a major importer of Russian energy and minerals, the US and EU are its top two trading partners. It is also heavily invested by Western companies, hundreds of which have streamed out of Russia since its invasion a month ago. Biden said that he had “pointed out the number of American and foreign corporations” that had left Russia because of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “barbaric” war on Ukraine. “I indicated that I knew how much he – because we had long discussions in the past – about his interest in making sure he has economic relations and economic growth with Europe and the US, and indicated that [Xi] would be putting himself in significant jeopardy in those aims if in fact he were to move forward,” Biden said. He declined to comment on the details of “what we know or don’t know” about Chinese support for Russia. Nato warns China against ‘economic or military support’ for Russia Biden was speaking after a Nato summit and amid widespread fears that Beijing is ready to back Russia militarily and economically, having already offered substantial rhetorical backing to Putin’s claims. Earlier, Nato called on China to help end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – and warned it not to assist Moscow in either capacity, as the bitter war enters its second month. Beijing was urged by Jens Stoltenberg, secretary general of the defence alliance, to use “its significant influence on Russia, and promote an immediate peaceful resolution”. Stoltenberg was addressing the press after Thursday’s summit, which delivered a statement calling for China to “cease amplifying the Kremlin’s false narratives” regarding Russia’s war on Ukraine. The statement urged all states, including China, “to abstain from supporting Russia’s war effort in any way, and to refrain from any action that helps Russia circumvent sanctions”. “We are concerned by recent public comments by [Chinese government] officials … in particular on the war and on Nato,” it read. Stoltenberg did not directly answer a question on how Nato would respond, should it determine that China was supporting Russia militarily. In response, the Chinese Mission to the EU issued a statement dismissing Nato as a “cold war remnant”, and said that it “firmly opposes such groundless accusations and suspicions, as well as any attempts to exert coercion and pressure against China”. More than 2 million have fled Ukraine war as refugees: UN “Since the crisis broke out in Ukraine, China has been working actively and constructively in an objective and impartial manner, to facilitate peace talks, cessation of conflicts, as well as the avoidance of a large-scale humanitarian crisis,” Beijing’s mission said. “Time will prove that China is on the right side of history. In the meantime, what NATO has done?” it added. G7 leaders met after the Nato summit, issuing a statement that echoed the same sentiments without directly naming China. “We urge all countries not to give military or other assistance to Russia to help continue its aggression in Ukraine,” it read. “We express concern about other countries and actors that have amplified Russia’s disinformation campaign,” it continued. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin rejected Stoltenberg’s earlier claims that China had been “spreading blatant lies and disinformation” about the war. “Accusing China of spreading disinformation on Ukraine is disinformation in itself,” Wang said in Beijing on Thursday. Chinese state media and foreign ministry officials have echoed Kremlin talking points regarding specific issues such as US bioweapon production in Ukraine, which have not been independently verified, and Nato’s “eastern expansion”. China has supported Russia’s attendance at the G20 summit in Indonesia, voted against a ruling at the UN’s International Court of Justice in The Hague ordering Russia to halt its war against Ukraine, and backed Russian resolutions on Ukraine at the UN Security Council. Joe Biden authorises additional US$200 million in aid for Ukraine In his remarks at Nato, Biden called on Russia to be excluded from November’s G20 summit in Indonesia and said the possibility had been discussed between leaders. If Indonesia does not agree, Biden added, Ukraine should be able to attend the meeting as an observer. Beijing has also declined to condemn Russia’s attack on the country, or to describe it as an invasion. A US official who attended the summit said “many speakers” agreed that “China needs to live up to its responsibilities within the international community as a UN Security Council member”. The Nato and G7 summits were followed by a European Council meeting, in which the leaders of the EU’s 27 member states were joined by Biden. The overarching aim is to demonstrate the solidity of the transatlantic alliance in the face of Russian aggression. In light of concerns that China and other countries would help Russia evade the sanctions, the G7 and EU will share information and coordinate responses, the White House announced before the summits. The collaboration is “related to evasive measures intended to undercut the effectiveness and impact of our joint sanctions actions”, the statement read. “Together, we will not allow sanctions evasion or backfilling.” The US and allies moved to issue a raft of new sanctions on Thursday, with Britain moving early to target an additional 65 Russian businesses and individuals. London said it was targeting “vital industries fuelling Putin’s war machine”. The United States followed up with sanctions on “over 400 Russian elites, Duma members and defense companies in coordination with the European Union and G7”, a White House statement said. At the European Council meeting, EU leaders fine-tuned a strategy for next Friday’s EU-China summit. Arriving at the council meeting, Latvian Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš said China had “a simple choice” to make. “Throw in your lot with Russia, that is waging war against Ukraine, bombing women, children, hospitals; or find a way to work with Europe with the US and with Western democracies,” he said. “I think it’s a rather simple choice, but of course, it’s a choice that China has to make.” German lawmaker Manfred Weber, the chair of the centre-right European People’s Party, said that Europe “will not accept it that China chooses the wrong side”. “We invite China for partnership, but we will not accept support for war criminals,” he added. Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said the “messages to China have been very, very clear”. “Please keep distance, and up to now China has done so,” he said. Additional reporting by Chad Bray in London