San Diego: Following the announcement of a significant submarine deal to counter China with Britain and Australia on Monday, US President Joe Biden said he anticipated speaking with Chinese President Xi Jinping soon but would not specify when.

When asked if he was concerned that China would view the AUKUS submarine deal as aggression during a meeting with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in San Diego, Biden responded, "No."

When asked if he would speak with Xi soon, Biden responded "yes," but when asked if he would let the media know when they would speak, he said "no."

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The United States claimed that a Chinese spy balloon had flown through American airspace, escalating already tense relations. Biden stated in mid-February that he expected to speak with Xi about the incident, but no such call has been made public.

Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser for the US, stated last week that the US wanted to resume routine communications with China, and Biden anticipated speaking with Xi on the phone once China's government resumed operations following the conclusion of its annual National People's Congress on Monday.

Beijing has denounced the AUKUS agreement as an illegal act of nuclear proliferation. It will supply Australia with nuclear-powered submarines to counter China in the Indo-Pacific.

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Last week, while discussing AUKUS with a small group of reporters, Sullivan said of China, "Competition requires dialogue and diplomacy. "We urge the People's Republic of China (PRC) to regularise senior-level communication patterns."

When asked about the potential timing of a call with Xi, Sullivan responded, "When the People's Congress is over and the government, including the president, return to work in Beijing, the (US) president anticipates the opportunity to engage in a phone call."

In reference to China's military buildup, which includes nuclear-powered submarines, Sullivan said, "Over the course of 18 months we have communicated with (China) about AUKUS and sought more information from them about their intentions."

For the first time since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, according to a Monday Wall Street Journal report, Xi intends to speak with Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine. According to the report, that call would most likely happen following Xi's trip to Moscow the following week to meet with Vladimir Putin.

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On the way to San Diego on Monday, Sullivan told reporters that Washington had been urging Xi to speak with Zelensky so that they could hear "not just the Russian perspective" on the conflict. Ukraine had not confirmed a call between Xi and Zelensky, Sullivan continued.