Your Evening Briefing: Biden Looks to China for Help With Putin

U.S. President Joe Biden will try to persuade Xi Jinping to ratchet up pressure on Vladimir Putin to end the war on Ukraine. Biden will tell Xi by phone Friday that the U.S. will “impose costs” if China backs Russia, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. Beijing has both avoided public criticism of Putin while offering words of support for Ukraine as Kremlin forces move to level its cities, killing hundreds of civilians in the process.

Ukrainian officials said Russian strikes on infrastructure and residential areas continued Thursday. The country’s biggest utility said 1.3 million people were without power. The head of the World Health Organization said there have been 43 confirmed attacks on health-care facilities in Ukraine since Russia’s invasion began and aid convoys have been stalled. Russia continued to bomb the cities of Kharkiv and Cherniyiv, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said. “For all the talk about wanting to find a diplomatic path forward, we haven’t seen them act on that,” Kirby said. “What you’re seeing by the Russians on the ground is a full-on commitment to military operations.”