The White House has released a communique from the long - almost two-hour - telephone conversation between President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, the BBC reported.
It listed many problems in the relationship between the two powers, but only mentioned one topic related to the war in Ukraine, and it was worded this way: "Biden expressed concern about China's support for Russia's defense industrial base and the impact of this on European and transatlantic security".
The administration's statements did not elaborate on that point, but earlier on Tuesday an anonymous source told the AFP news agency was a little more specific about it, albeit with textual overlaps with a follow-up statement: "We really see that China is began to help rebuild the Russian defense industrial base". He stated that China supplies Russia with components that allow "little by little to build up Russian potential in Ukraine, and this, of course, has a long-term impact on European security".
Similar wording was contained in the transcript of the closed and anonymous briefing before the call, published on the White House website. A senior administration official added that French Foreign Minister Stéphane Sejournet made similar points during his visit to Beijing on April 1. In published comments, Sejourne said he expected Beijing to send "clear signals" of Moscow, as ending the war in Ukraine is in the interest of the entire world community, including China.
The Chinese communique released by the official Xinhua News Agency is even more meager: "The two heads of state exchanged views on the Ukrainian crisis and the situation on the Korean Peninsula.