US sets the stage for contentious Biden call with China's Xi

(CNN) Blunt US rhetoric heading into President Joe Biden’s call with Chinese President Xi Jinping suggests that a meeting of the minds on Russia’s brutality in Ukraine is unlikely, and reflects the current bitter tensions between Washington and Beijing. Biden and Xi are due to speak at 9 a.m. ET Friday , with the US setting the stage for a stern warning that Chinese firms would pay a serious price if the Beijing government heeds Russian President Vladimir Putin’s pleas for military and economic aid . The call will find the US surmounting one of its deepest-set foreign policy fears…