President Joe Biden will hold a call with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on March 18 to discuss a range of urgent issues including China’s stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and economic competition between Washington and Beijing, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki announced Thursday. Psaki described the call as “part of our ongoing efforts to maintain open lines of communication between the United States and the PRC [People’s Republic of China].” The announcement comes on the heels of warnings from Biden officials that Beijing will face consequences if it chooses to help Russia evade Western sanctions for its aggression against Ukraine. It also follows more than seven hours of talks between U.S. national security advisor Jake Sullivan and the Chinese regime’s top diplomat Yang Jiechi in Rome on Monday, where topics of discussion include Taiwan and North Korea in addition to the Ukraine crisis. Senior administration officials later described …