Without going any further, the first day of the summit, held on Monday in Bali, Indonesia, revolved around to the expected and unofficial meeting between the Chinese leader, Xi Jinpingand the American president, Joe Biden.

During more than three hoursthe leaders of the two largest economies on the planet ratified their respective e unshakeable stances on Taiwan, the self-governing island that China claims as its own and that the US has promised to defend. Furthermore, they pledged to compete responsibly without getting into an open confrontation. Or in Biden’s words: they agreed to avoid “a new cold war“.

[Biden y Xi se comprometen a no entrar en conflicto: “No es necesaria una nueva guerra fría”]

A “candid and constructive” conversation that seems like a first step to reset severely damaged relationships since August, when the visit of the president of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosito Taiwan, unleashed a deep diplomatic and military crisis.

For his part, the Chinese president, who he just revalidated his third term as supreme leader of the Asian giant, he spoke of the need to “set the right course” for bilateral relations that have gone through more than 50 years of ups and downs.

“The two sides should work with all countries to bring greater hope to world peace, more confidence in world stability and stronger momentum for common development,” Xi said in remarks reported by the state news agency. Xinhua.

Likewise, both leaders have condemned “the use of atomic weapons” at a time when Russian President Vladimir Putin – who has not attended the summit for allegedly “schedule problems“-, the nuclear rhetoric has increased after the continuous failures of his army on the battlefield.

The CIA Summit

As top world leaders exchanged greetings in Bali, CIA director William BurnsI was traveling on Monday to turkey to meet with his Russian counterpartthe head of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), Sergei Naryshkinand warn you about the potential use of nuclear weapons, as confirmed by a spokesman for the White House National Security Council.

This appointment takes place in full wave of talks between Washington and Moscow and kyiv to hasten the end of the conflict. Without going any further, just a couple of weeks ago, the US national security adviser, Jake Sullivanvisited the Ukrainian president, Volodímir Zelenski, to ask him not to close the band to negotiating peace.

[El esfuerzo bélico agota a Biden: EEUU dialoga con el Kremlin y pide a Ucrania que negocie con Rusia]

Apparently, the meeting had the desired effect, since days later the Ukrainian leader said he was open to starting “genuine conversations” with Russia without demanding Putin’s removal. A requirement that he previously defended as unappealable.

Likewise, the US government has also been in direct contact with the Kremlin for months. According to him Wall Street Journal, Sullivan would have been involved in confidential conversations with senior Russian officials with the goal of avoiding a nuclear escalation.

On this occasion, the meeting between Burns and Naryshkin would have been limited to preventing an increase in violence. “This is not about conducting negotiations of any kind and they are not going to discuss any agreement on the war in Ukraine,” a US spokesman told the agency. Reuters on condition of anonymity.

The idea is “send a message to Russia of the consequences that the use of nuclear weapons would have and the risks of an escalation of tension for strategic stability,” the spokesman explained. “And he will also talk about the cases of American citizens who are unjustly detained.”

In this sense, from Washington they assured that Ukraine has been “previously informed about this trip and that he will abide by the fundamental maxim that he is applying in this conflict: do not discuss anything about Ukraine if Ukraine is not there”.

Russia-Ukraine War

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