President Joe Biden and Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany on Friday showed a united front on the war in Ukraine, vowing to keep western support intact amid mounting concerns that China could move to supply weapons to Moscow.

Speaking to reporters before a private meeting in the Oval Office, Biden said that both leaders would work in “lock step” for as long as it takes to provide military support to Kyiv. “As Nato allies, we’re making the alliance stronger and more capable,” Biden said, more than a year into a Russian offensive that has persisted despite bruising losses on the battlefield and ongoing economic isolation.

With a series of in-person meetings and calls — they spoke several times in January alone — Biden and Scholz are trying to show the world that they are the stewards of a strong Nato alliance against Russian aggression and Chinese interference. But the war has devastated Ukraine, even as the western alliance has held up far better than President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and many analysts expected.

The meeting came at a dire moment, with Moscow’s forces in recent weeks making gains in the battered Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, putting the critical roads in and out of the city in jeopardy.

On Friday, neither Biden nor Scholz publicly acknowledged the looming concerns over Chinese involvement in the conflict.

At one point, Biden declined to answer a question about whether he and Scholz would discuss the matter.

Still, Scholz arrived in Washington hours after speaking to the German parliament and directly calling on Beijing — his country’s largest trading partner — to “use your influence in Moscow to press for the withdrawal of Russian troops”.

And in recent days, US officials, including secretary of state Antony J. Blinken, have warned that Beijing may be preparing to send weapons and ammunition to Russia, which would be a major shift for China.

In response, the Chinese foreign ministry has accused the US of spreading lies.

Though Beijing released a paper last week that reiterated China’s neutral stance and called for an end to the fighting, Biden has threatened to respond with sanctions should China supply weapons.

New York Times News Service