WASHINGTON --
Head to head by video, U.S. President Joe Biden laid out to Chinese language President Xi Jinping on Friday the stiff penalties the Chinese language would face from the U.S. if they supply army or financial help for Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
There was no indication he received any assurance in return.
In truth, Xi blamed the U.S. for the disaster and insisted with a Chinese language proverb that the subsequent transfer was as much as Biden:
"He who tied the bell to the tiger should take it off," Xi stated, in line with a Chinese language authorities readout.
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Extra formally after the almost two-hour dialog, China's International Ministry deplored "battle and confrontation" as "not in anybody's curiosity," however assigned no blame to Russia and stated nothing of subsequent steps.
On the White Home, press secretary Jen Psaki stated, "China has to decide for themselves, about the place they need to stand and the way they need the historical past books to take a look at them and examine their actions."
She declined to element attainable penalties Biden specified to the Chinese language president if his nation offers assist for the Russian invasion.
However a senior administration official who briefed reporters following the leaders' name stated that Biden pointed to the financial isolation that Russia has confronted -- together with economy-battering sanctions and main Western firms suspending operations -- as he sought to underscore the prices that China would possibly endure.
Xi urged the U.S. and Russia, which have had restricted engagement because the Feb. 24 invasion, to barter. He famous China's donations of humanitarian support for Ukraine, whereas accusing the U.S. of scary Russia and fueling the battle by transport arms to the embattled nation. He additionally renewed China's criticism of sanctions imposed on Russia over the invasion, in line with State media. As prior to now, Xi didn't use the phrases struggle or invasion to explain Russia's actions.
Forward of the decision, Psaki famous Beijing's "rhetorical assist" of Putin and an "absence of denunciation" of Russia's invasion.
Chinese language International Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying pushed again, calling the U..S. administration "overbearing" for suggesting China dangers falling on the improper facet of historical past.
The 2 leaders additionally mentioned the longer-simmering U.S.-China dispute over Taiwan. In a reminder of China's menace to claim its declare by drive, the Chinese language plane provider Shandong sailed via the Taiwan Strait on Friday, simply hours earlier than the Biden-Xi name. The U.S. is legally obligated to make sure the self-governing island democracy can defend itself and treats threats to it with "grave concern."
Planning for the leaders' dialogue had been within the works since Biden and Xi held a digital summit in November, however variations between Washington and Beijing over Russian President Vladimir Putin's prosecution of his three-week-old struggle in opposition to Ukraine have been on the heart of Friday's dialog.
The U.S.-China relationship, lengthy fraught, has solely develop into extra strained because the begin of Biden's presidency. Biden has repeatedly criticized China for army provocations in opposition to Taiwan, human rights abuses in opposition to ethnic minorities and efforts to squelch pro-democracy advocates in Hong Kong.
However the relationship might have reached a brand new low with the Russian invasion.
Within the days after Putin deployed Russian forces in Ukraine, Xi's authorities tried to distance itself from Russia's offensive however prevented the criticism many different nations have leveled at Moscow. At different moments, Beijing's actions have been provocative together with amplifying unverified Russian claims that Ukraine ran chemical and organic weapons labs with U.S. assist.
Earlier this week, the U.S. knowledgeable Asian and European allies that American intelligence had decided that China had signaled to Russia that it might be keen to offer each army assist for the marketing campaign in Ukraine and monetary backing to assist stave off the affect of extreme sanctions imposed by the West.
The White Home says China has been sending combined messages. There have been preliminary indicators that Chinese language state-owned banks have been pulling again from financing Russian actions, in line with a senior Biden administration official who insisted on anonymity to debate inner analyses. However there have additionally been public feedback by Chinese language officers who expressed assist for Russia being a strategic accomplice.
White Home nationwide safety adviser Jake Sullivan and senior Chinese language overseas coverage adviser Yang Jiechi met in Rome this week for an intense, seven-hour speak concerning the Russian invasion and different points.
Forward of the Rome talks, Sullivan stated the U.S. would not abide China or another nation serving to Russia work round economy-jarring sanctions inflicted by the U.S. and different allies in response to the invasion.
Sullivan additionally stated the administration decided China knew that Putin "was planning one thing" earlier than the invasion of Ukraine, however the Chinese language authorities "might not have understood the complete extent" of what Putin had in thoughts.
Xi and Putin met in early February, weeks earlier than the invasion, with the Russian chief touring to Beijing for the beginning of the Winter Olympics. The 2 leaders issued a 5,000-word assertion declaring limitless "friendship."
Beijing's leaders want to be supportive of Russia, however additionally they acknowledge how badly the Russian army motion goes as an overmatched Ukrainian army has put up stiff resistance, in line with a Western official conversant in present intelligence assessments.
The official, who was not approved to remark and spoke on the situation of anonymity, stated Beijing is weighing the potential "reputational blowback" of being related to the Russian camp. The Chinese language response to Russia's request for assist continues to be being formulated, the official stated.
Although seen as siding with Russia, China has additionally reached out to Ukraine, with its ambassador to the nation on Monday quoted as saying: "China is a pleasant nation for the Ukrainian individuals. As an envoy, I can responsibly say that China will without end be drive for Ukraine, each economically and politically."
"We now have seen how nice the unity of the Ukrainian individuals is, and meaning its power," Fan Xianrong was quoted by Ukraine's state information service Ukrinform as telling regional authorities within the western metropolis of Lviv, the place the Chinese language Embassy has relocated to.
State media quoted Xi as saying China-U.S. relations had but to "emerge from the dilemma created by the earlier U.S. administration, however as a substitute encountered increasingly challenges," singling out Taiwan as one space particularly.
"If the Taiwan challenge will not be dealt with correctly, it would have an undermining affect on the connection between the 2 nations," Xi reportedly informed Biden.
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Related Press writers Jill Lawless in London and Josh Boak and Zeke Miller in Washington and AP information assistant Caroline Chen in Beijing contributed to this report.
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