“I don’t think there is anything inevitable about the idea that there will be a conflict between the United States and the West” with China, Mr Biden added.
But China was hardly reassured. The government sharply denounced the G7 summit over the weekend, warning leaders not to pressure Beijing over Taiwan, economic coercion and other controversial topics.
“The Group of 7 talks loftily about ‘moving towards a peaceful, stable, prosperous world,’ but what it is doing is hindering international peace, damaging regional stability and stifling the development of other countries,” the Chinese newspaper said. Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Business said in the statement. “The Group of 7 has ignored China’s grave concerns and insisted on manipulating topics related to China, defaming and attacking China, and grossly interfering in China’s internal affairs.”
China has been a key ally of Russia during the war in Ukraine, though it did not send deadly aid, according to US officials. In a sign that Beijing and Moscow remain close despite tensions over the war in Ukraine, China announced that a senior envoy, Chen Wenqing, the head of the Communist Party’s political and legal affairs committee, would go to Russia for security cooperation meetings.
Russia responded in its own way to the message of solidarity for Ukraine emanating from the G7. The Russian navy placed two warships and two submarines in the Black Sea, seemingly hinting at a planned missile attack on Ukraine to coincide with the G7 summit, a spokeswoman for Ukraine’s southern military command said on Ukrainian television.
The meeting between Mr Biden and Mr Zelensky was their first since the US president made a surprise trip to Kiev, Ukraine’s capital, in February. The two reminisced about that visit on Sunday, as they marched out to pay tribute to the fallen Ukrainians as air raid sirens sounded. Mr Biden recalled following Mr Zelensky, who seemed unperturbed. “And I thought, ‘Well, if he doesn’t care about the sirens, I don’t care about the sirens.'”
Jim Tankersley, Chris Buckley, Andrew E. Kramer and Hikari Hida contributed reporting.
