Ukraine war: Xi Jinping calls for cooperation, Biden warns of consequences in two-hour call
- ‘The Ukraine crisis is something we don’t want to see,’ Xi says, reiterating messages from lower officials
- Biden ‘made clear the implications and consequences of China providing material support’ to Russia
Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Joe Biden spoke on Friday for about two hours in a virtual meeting called to address the conflict in Ukraine, with Xi appealing for negotiations to bring the crisis to a halt and Biden stressing that consequences await Beijing for any support it provides to Moscow.
“The Ukraine crisis is something we don’t want to see,” Xi said, according to a government readout. “Events once again show that state-to-state relations cannot go to the stage of confrontation, conflict and confrontation are not in the interests of anyone.”
“As permanent members of the UN Security Council and the world’s two largest economies, we must not only lead the development of China-US relations on the right track, but also shoulder our due international responsibilities and make efforts for world peace and tranquillity,” the readout said.
Calling the exchange “constructive”, Beijing said the two sides agreed “to follow up in a timely manner, take practical actions, strive for the return of China-US relations to the track of stable development, and make their own efforts to properly resolve the Ukraine crisis”.
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The Chinese government account added that the US and Nato “should also conduct dialogue with Russia to solve the crux of the Ukraine crisis”.
A senior Biden administration official, who briefed reporters about four hours after the talks ended, said Biden “made clear the implications and consequences of China providing material support if China were to provide material support to Russia, as it prosecutes its brutal war in Ukraine”.