President Xi and President Biden holds virtual summit

US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke on Friday in their first virtual summit after the Russian military action began in Ukraine, to discuss US-China relations, the situation in Ukraine and issues of common interest. President Xi appealed for negotiations to bring the crisis to a halt while President Biden stressed there will be consequences for Beijing if it provides support to Moscow. Chinese 

Foreign Ministry readout on Saturday said President Xi pointed out that China does not want to see the situation in Ukraine to come to this. As the Ukraine Russia war has entered its fourth week, President Xi said all sides need to jointly support Russia and Ukraine in having dialogue and negotiation that will produce results and lead to peace. 

The US and NATO should also have a dialogue with Russia to address the crux of the Ukraine crisis and ease the security concerns of both Russia and Ukraine, he said while opposing economic sanctions on Russia.

In its stance, Beijing has avoided overt criticism of Russia's actions in Ukraine even as a senior Ukraine official on Saturday urged China to join Western countries in condemning



Russia. Analysts say that China is attempting to navigate "a middle path" between openly supporting Russia but without further antagonizing the United States and the west as China wants to avoid being impacted by the western sanctions. 

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Sunday reiterated the country's stance on Ukraine saying that it is objective, fair and consistent with the wishes of most countries, and time will prove China’s stance is on the right side of history.

Earlier this week, Wang Yi said during a phone call with his Spanish counterpart that "China is not a party to the Ukraine crisis and doesn't want the sanctions to affect China." The statement came amid increasing concerns over Beijing considering helping its ally Moscow by providing military equipment to be used in the war in Ukraine which Beijing has denied labeling the allegations “misinformation”. 

On Wednesday, Beijing also backed the comments made by China's ambassador to Ukraine, Fan Xianrong who told Lviv regional government that "China will never attack Ukraine. We will help, especially economically."