US President Joe Biden sought to prevent Beijing giving new life to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in a video call on Friday with Chinese President Xi Jinping, as Moscow pressed on with bombardments that have taken the place of military advances.
China is the one big power that has yet to condemn Russia’s assault and Washington says it fears Beijing may be considering giving financial and military support, something that both Russia and China deny.
Xi said the Ukraine crisis was something China did not want to see, and that Beijing and Washington should guide bilateral relations along the right track, Chinese state media said after he and Biden began their call.
The White house said later the call had lasted just under two hours.
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Peace talks have stepped up this week, with Kyiv, which is demanding a Russian ceasefire and withdrawal, saying Moscow has become more serious as a quick victory slips out of its reach.
Both sides have described progress towards a political formula that would keep Ukraine out of the NATO alliance but protected with some other form of guarantee. Both, however, accused each other on Friday of dragging the talks.
With financial sanctions and diplomatic ostracism cutting Russia off from advanced economies, China is Russia’s last big economic lifeline.
Putin and Xi signed a “no limits” friendship pact three weeks before the invasion, in an ostentatious event held on the morning of last month’s Winter Olympics opening ceremony. The document repeated some of Russia’s grievances over Ukraine.
China Treading Carefully
China has so far been treading a careful line, abstaining in votes over U.N. resolutions condemning Russia while declining to refer to the assault as an invasion criticising the West.
But Washington, which this week announced $800 million in new military aid to Kyiv, now says Moscow wants more from Beijing than just diplomatic cover.
Biden, who described Putin as a “murderous dictator”, will make clear to Xi that China “will bear responsibility for any actions it takes to support Russia’s aggression”, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters.
“Beijing will do everything in its power to avoid having to openly take sides, but its formerly relatively cost-free relationship with Russia has become complicated and is now exposing China to growing geopolitical, economic and reputational risks,” said Helena Legarda, Lead Analyst at the Mercator Institute for China Studies.
Hours before the phone call, China sailed an aircraft carrier through the sensitive Taiwan Strait, shadowed by a U.S. destroyer, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said.
- Reuters with additional editing by Sean O’Meara
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