New Delhi: President Joe Biden will speak to his Chinese counterpart President Xi Jinping on Friday to discuss the ongoing economic and trade race between the two major economies and the Russia-Ukraine war, reported PTI.


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In the Thursday statement, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki announced that the upcoming call is part of efforts being made to mend the relationship between China and the US.


The call follows an intense seven-hour meeting in Rome on Monday between White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan and senior Chinese foreign policy adviser Yang Jiechi.


At the meeting, Sullivan wanted more transparency on Beijing's posture regarding Russia and repeated that any attempts by China to help Russia avoid sanctions would be costly for Xi's government.


US officials have also warned that China has amplified Russian disinformation that could be a pretext for Vladimir Putin's forces to attack Ukraine with chemical or biological weapons.


Some reports, which are so far denied by Kremlin also suggest that Russia has reached out to China for aid as it faces sanctions and an invasion that faces stiff resistance by Ukrainians.


Russia, which shares a conflicting relationship with the US, has launched a military operation on Ukrainian soil on February 24.


Moscow claimed that the attack was in fact a retaliation after the Donetsk and Luhansk people`s republics requested help in defending themselves.


Since then, Western nations including UK and France have imposed comprehensive sanctions on Russia to condemn the war.


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