US President Joe Biden says he told Chinese President Xi Jinping it would be a “gigantic mistake” to violate sanctions against Russia after its invasion of Ukraine.
The US president said he spoke with Xi after China’s leader met Russian President Vladimir Putin during the Winter Olympics in February. Russia attacked its neighbour shortly thereafter.
the US leader said: “I said: ‘If you think that Americans and others will continue to invest in China based on your violating the sanctions that have been imposed on Russia, I think you’re making a gigantic mistake. But that’s your decision to make.”
The call was “not to threaten” the Chinese president but to warn about the consequences of ignoring Western sanctions, Biden noted.
“Thus far, there’s no indication they’ve put forward weapons or other things that Russia has wanted,” Biden said of China.
