Jinping of China are invited to the global leaders’ climate summit the administration is hosting in April.
The president told reporters that he hasn’t directly invited Putin or Xi but said the leaders “know they’re invited” to the summit, an event the U.S. is hosting to advance global efforts to reduce climate-changing fossil fuel emissions.
The White House later published a list of 40 world leaders invited to the summit, including Xi and Putin.
Biden said he spoke to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday and EU member states Thursday. The White House has prioritized speaking with close U.S. allies before reaching out to China and Russia.
The administration plans to unveil a new carbon emissions target at the summit, which will be held remotely on April 22 and 23. Biden pledged to host the climate talks during his campaign and through an executive order in January. The summit takes place ahead of November’s U.N. global climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland.
The U.S. is the world’s second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, behind China. Russia is the fourth-largest emitter. It’s unclear whether Russia and China will accept invitations to the summit or be interested in working with the U.S. to curb emissions.
The White House has said it wants to cooperate with Russia and China on climate change despite rising tensions between the countries in a number of other areas. The Biden administration has repeatedly singled out Beijing and Moscow as top national security threats to the U.S.
