Alwaght- The American President Joe Biden is set to talk today to the Chinese counterpart Xi Jingping, with the central point of discussion is expected to be a warning the American leader would issue to Beijing for helping Russia.
The warning is coming amid a large-scale Western sanctions campaign against Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.
Since the beginning of Ukraine operation, the West imposed heavy-handed sanctions on Russia's banking and industries. Its energy exports were also banned by the US last week.
Biden intends to share his “deep concerns” about China not denouncing Russia and the potential “implications and consequences” of that with Chinese President Xi Jinping in their upcoming call, the White House said on Thursday.
The call, scheduled for Friday, is “an opportunity for President Biden to assess where President Xi stands,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters, pointing to the “absence of clear rhetoric and denunciation” of Russia in Beijing.
“The fact that China has not denounced what Russia is doing in and of itself speaks volumes,” not just in Russia and Ukraine but around the world, Psaki added.
China is a major trade partner to Russia and buys huge oil and gas amounts from the country. In the initial days of the Russian campaign, China lifted a ban on Russian wheat imports to help cash flow to Moscow and ease the effects of sanctions.
Also, Russia said it turns to a Chinese payment system now that Western payment companies, Visa and Master Card, left the country. Moscow named Chinese alternatives for other Western firms left Russia.
Biden can hardly get what he wants from Beijing as China and Russia are strategic partners and are emerging to end the US-led unipolar world order.