US President Joe Biden will ‘at some point’ meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, according to White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan, as the two countries work to restore normal relations amid an extremely tumultuous and tense year in relations.

“We will see in the coming months, I hope, U.S. officials in high-level conversations with their Chinese counterparts to continue this work. And then at some point we will see President Biden and President Xi come together again,” Sullivan told Fareed Zakaria about the CNNin an interview with the “GPS” broadcast this Sunday (4).

“There is nothing incompatible with, on the one hand, vigorous competition in important areas of the economy and technology and also ensuring that this competition does not degenerate into conflict or confrontation. This is President Biden’s firm belief,” Sullivan added.

Sullivan’s remarks come at a time when relations between the world’s two largest economies remain strained.

China’s defense minister on Sunday accused the US and its allies of trying to destabilize the Indo-Pacific region – just hours after the US declared a Chinese warship crossed in front of an American ship which was participating in a joint exercise with the Canadian Navy in the Taiwan Strait, forcing the American ship to slow down to avoid a collision.

The incident marked the second time in two weeks that the Chinese military has engaged in aggressive maneuvers near US military personnel near the border with China.

A Chinese fighter jet performed an “unnecessarily aggressive maneuver” while intercepting a US spy plane in international airspace over the South China Sea last week, the US military said on Tuesday. .

Tensions between Washington and Beijing skyrocketed in February after an alleged Chinese spy balloon flew over the mainland United States and was later shot down by the US military. The incident prompted US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to postpone a planned trip to Beijing.

Although the trip has not yet been rescheduled, the State Department announced on Saturday (3) that the Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs will be visiting China this week “ to discuss key issues of the bilateral relationship”.

Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang said in May that a “series of misguided words and actions” by the United States had put relations between the two superpowers on “cold ice”, but that stabilizing ties was a “top priority”.

Amid U.S. efforts to reconnect with China, Sullivan met with senior Chinese official Wang Yi in Vienna last month, in one of the highest-level engagements between U.S. and Chinese officials since the spy balloon incident.

There is a desire, Sullivan said, to “put a floor under the relationship” to more responsibly manage their competition.

“There are several different elements to this. But one of the main ones is that as we have intense competition, we also have intense diplomacy,” he said.

As recently as mid-May, Biden held out hope that he would eventually meet his Chinese counterpart “whether soon or not.” The two leaders last met in November at the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, for a three-hour talk that Biden later described as “open and candid.”

Ukrainian counter-offensive

Meanwhile, Sullivan also told Zakaria that the United States believed the long-awaited Ukrainian counteroffensive would result in Kyiv retaking “strategically important territory.”

“Exactly how far, where, will depend on developments on the ground as the Ukrainians launch this counter-offensive,” Sullivan said. “But we think the Ukrainians will succeed.”

Asked if this act could mean some sort of deal by the end of this year, Sullivan didn’t provide any type of timeline, but said developments on the battlefield will “impact major” on any future agreement.

“But what I will say is this: President Zelensky himself said this war would end with diplomacy,” Sullivan said.

Ukraine’s military has been seen moving military equipment to the front lines of its conflict with Russia and carrying out attacks on Russian targets that could facilitate an offensive, including recent attacks on the port city of Berdyansk , occupied by Russia.

A senior US official confirmed CNN in May that Ukraine had begun conducting “shaping” operations ahead of a counter-offensive against Russian forces.

Forming involves hitting targets such as arms depots, command centers, and armor and artillery systems to prepare the battlefield for advancing forces.