Blinken: Biden Will Tell Xi Jinping That China Will Face ‘Costs’ If It Supports Putin’s War

President Biden will tell Chinese President Xi Jinping during their phone call on Friday that if China takes any steps to help Russia’s war against Ukraine, it will face consequences.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters at the State Department that 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.”

The phone conversation is scheduled to take place four days after National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met in Rome with the Chinese Communist Party’s top foreign affairs official, Yang Jiechi, and delivered the same message. That meeting had been long planned, but followed reports that Russia has asked China for help as it deals with the effects of economic sanctions imposed in response to its invasion of Ukraine.

Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the Biden-Xi call was requested by the U.S. side, although when asked who initiated it, White House press secretary Jen Psaki only said it had been discussed and mutually agreed upon at the Sullivan-Yang meeting.