Biden warns Xi of 'consequences' if China supports Russia's war in Ukraine

Leaders spoke for nearly two hours as White House looks to deter Beijing from giving military or economic support to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

US President Joe Biden holds talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping from the Situation Room at the White House in Washington. White House handout via Reuters

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US President Joe Biden on Friday outlined “implications and consequences” to China's President Xi Jinping if Beijing provides material support to Russia as it attacks Ukraine, the White House said.

The two leaders' two-hour video call “focused on Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine” and Mr Biden “described the implications and consequences if China provides material support to Russia as it conducts brutal attacks against Ukrainian cities and civilians”, the White House said in a readout of the call.

Chinese state media reported that Mr Xi told Mr Biden that the war must end as soon as possible.

“The top priorities now are to continue dialogue and negotiations, avoid civilian casualties, prevent a humanitarian crisis, cease fighting and end the war as soon as possible,” Mr Xi said.

All parties should jointly support Russia-Ukraine dialogue and negotiations while the US and Nato also conduct talks with Moscow to solve the “crux” of the crisis and resolve the security concerns of both countries, he added.

Mr Biden underscored his support for a diplomatic resolution to the crisis, the White House said.

Planning for the meeting had been in the works since Mr Biden and Mr Xi last held a video summit in November, but differences between Washington and Beijing over Russian President Vladimir Putin’s three-week-old war in Ukraine gave the call new focus.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki earlier said Mr Biden would question Mr Xi about Beijing’s “rhetorical support” of Mr Putin and an “absence of denunciation” of Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine.

“This is an opportunity to assess where President Xi stands,” Ms Psaki said.

Earlier this week, the US informed Asian and European allies that intelligence had determined China had signalled to Russia it would be willing to provide military support for the campaign in Ukraine and financial backing to help stave off the impact of severe sanctions imposed by the West.

“President Biden … will make clear that China will bear responsibility for any actions it takes to support Russia's aggression and we will not hesitate to impose costs,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday.

China on Friday again sought to highlight its calls for negotiations and donations of humanitarian aid, while accusing the US of provoking Russia and fuelling the conflict by shipping arms to Ukraine.

“China has called for every effort to avoid civilian casualties all the time,” Foreign Ministry representative Zhao Lijian told reporters at a daily briefing.

“Which do the civilians in Ukraine need more: food and sleeping bags or machine guns and artillery? It’s easy to answer.”

The US-China relationship, long fraught, has only become more strained since the start of Mr Biden’s presidency. Mr Biden has repeatedly criticised China for military provocations in East Asia, human rights abuses against ethnic minorities and efforts to squash pro-democracy advocates in Hong Kong.

But the relationship may have reached a new low with the Russian invasion.

In the days after Mr Putin sent Russian forces into Ukraine, Mr Xi’s government tried to distance itself from Russia’s offensive but avoided criticising Moscow.

At other moments, Beijing’s actions have been provocative and have included amplifying unverified Russian claims that Ukraine ran chemical and biological weapons labs with US support.

White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and senior Chinese foreign policy adviser Yang Jiechi met in Rome earlier this week for an intense, seven-hour talk about the Russian invasion and other issues.

Before the Rome talks, Mr Sullivan said Washington wouldn’t allow China or any other country helping Russia work around economy-jarring sanctions enacted by the US and other allies since the February 24 invasion.

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  A woman cries near a building damaged by shelling in Kyiv as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues. EPA

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  A satellite photo from Planet Labs PBC shows the damage from a Russian strike on Lviv's international airport. AP

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  Destroyed cars hit by shelling in Kyiv. EPA

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  A woman stands in her home after her building was damaged by shelling in Kyiv. EPA

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  A pedestrian looks at a cloud of smoke rising after an explosion in Lviv. AP

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  General view of a street behind a barricade in the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa. EPA

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  The UN Security Council meets on threats to international peace and security in New York. AFP

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  US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin speaks with US troops at an army training range in Bulgaria. AP

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  Empty strollers are seen outside the Lviv city council building during an action to highlight the number of children killed during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. AFP

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  Children play on the stage of the theatre of the Ukrainian House where a shelter for refugees has been installed in Przemysl, south-eastern Poland. AFP

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  Smoke is seen above buildings close to the airport in Lviv, Ukraine. Lviv's mayor said the airport was not hit, but an area nearby. Getty Images

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  Ukrainian firefighters try to extinguish a blaze at a warehouse after a bombing in Kyiv. AP Photo

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  President Volodymyr Zelenskiy presents flowers to Kateryna Vlasenko, 16 - who was injured as she fled with her family from the town of Vorzel - at a hospital in Kyiv. Reuters

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  Igor, a 40 year-old Ukranian soldier, embraces his wife in front of his military basement in the centre of Odesa. AFP

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  Ukrainian refugees arrive at the reception centre near Palanca Village, about 3 kilometres from the Moldova-Ukraine border. EPA

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  Broken windows after parts of a Russian missile, shot down by Ukrainian air defences, hit an apartment block in Kyiv. AP

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  People clear debris outside a medical centre damaged by the same Russian missile after it was intercepted. AP

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  A police officer looks through the window of a damaged flat in Kyiv. One person was killed and three injured when debris from a downed rocket hit an apartment in the Ukrainian capital. AFP

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  Firemen working in the rubble after extensive damage in Kyiv. AFP

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  Family members and comrades of Ivan Skrypny, who was killed in a rocket attack on a military base in Yavoriv, pay their last respects at his memorial service in Lviv, Ukraine. Reuters

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  A man feels the despair as his home was hit by debris from a downed rocket in Kyiv. Russian troops trying to encircle the capital have launched early morning strikes on the city for several successive days. AFP

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  UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed shakes hands with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during a news conference following their talks in Moscow. Reuters

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  The Donetsk Regional Theatre of Drama, which was destroyed by an air strike during Russia's military onslaught in Mariupol, Ukraine. Reuters

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  A satellite image of the theatre before the bombing, with the word 'children' written in Russian in large white letters on the pavement in front of and behind the building. Reuters

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  A Ukrainian woman and her family in a taxi displaying the colours of the Ukrainian flag upon arriving in Madrid with a group of Spanish taxi drivers who drove to Poland to support the mass evacuation of refugees. Reuters

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  A sanitised train arrives in Kielce, Poland, carrying children with oncological diseases who fled Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Reuters

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  A man outside a damaged housing block after it was hit by debris from a downed rocket in Kyiv. AFP

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  A residential building damaged by a blast wave at the scene where debris from a downed rocket hit a nearby apartment block in Kyiv. AFP

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  Evacuees from Mariupol are seen upon arrival at the car park of a shopping centre on the outskirts of the city of Zaporizhzhia, which is now a registration centre for displaced people. AFP

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  Legislators applaud Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine's president, after an address via video link at the Bundestag in Berlin. Bloomberg

Mr Xi and Mr Putin met in early February, weeks before the invasion, with the Russian leader travelling to Beijing for the start of the Winter Olympics. During Mr Putin’s visit, the two leaders issued a 5,000-word statement declaring limitless “friendship”.

Although seen as siding with Russia, China has also reached out to Ukraine, with its ambassador to the country, Fan Xianrong, on Monday quoted as saying: “China is a friendly country for the Ukrainian people. As an ambassador, I can responsibly say that China will forever be a good force for Ukraine, both economically and politically.”

Despite tension in US-China relations, Mr Biden and Mr Xi have sought to keep the leader-to-leader dialogue open and have become familiar with each other through their political rise.

Agencies contributed to this report.