Biden-Xi call report says US did not make requests of China

I don’t know if there’s anything new here. If anything this sounds a bit softer than some of the earlier readouts.

• Biden stressed to Xi that providing material support to Russia would have consequences not just from the US but the wider world
• Laid out to Xi in detail the unified response from the private sector and govt’s around the world
• There would ‘likely’ be consequences for those who would step in to support Russia at this time
• “Our view is that China will make its own decisions”
• US did not make requests of China
• We will see what decisions China makes in the weeks and days ahead

That last bullet point sort of sums it up. I don’t think all these calls and talks would be happening if China hadn’t already made up its mind but who really knows.

In any case, stocks continue to hit session highs with the Nasdaq now up 1.7% and S&P 500 0.9%.