China’s President Xi Jinping urged his US counterpart Joe Biden to engage in talks with Russia to address the reasons behind the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, stressing it should be resolved through diplomacy. The two presidents held talks via a video link on Friday, discussing various international and bilateral issues. The talks were held “at the request” of Washington, China’s Foreign Ministry noted in a statement.
China’s leader stressed that Beijing has always stood “for peace and opposes war,” urging all the parties involved in the ongoing conflict between Moscow and Kiev to stick to diplomacy.
“All sides need to jointly support Russia and Ukraine in having dialogue and negotiation that will produce results and lead to peace,” the Chinese statement issued after the talks reads. At the same time, President Xi told Biden that the ongoing crisis should be addressed on another level as well.
Biden, for his part, “underscored his support for a diplomatic resolution to the crisis,” warning Beijing of “the implications and consequences if China provides material support to Russia,” a brief readout of the talks released by the White House reads. Both Moscow and Beijing have denied Russia had ever sought help from China amid the ongoing offensive in Ukraine, refuting media reports suggesting so.