Antony Blinken winces as Biden brands Xi a ’dictator’

Antony Blinken appeared uneasy as Joe Biden branded Xi Jinping a “dictator” and briefed the press that a deal to free Israeli hostages could be imminent. During a press conference following his meeting with the Chinese leader in California, Mr Biden apologised to his secretary of state for revealing too much on the state of Hamas-Israel hostage negotiations. The US President said: “I don’t want to get ahead of myself here... but we have gotten great cooperation from the Qataris”, a key intermediary between Israel and Hamas. Mr Biden remarked about a “pause the Israelis have agreed to” as he described progress toward a deal, before cutting himself off as the US secretary of state sat stony-faced. The president went on to say: “I’m giving too much detail. I know Mr Secretary, I’m going to stop. But I am mildly hopeful.” Read the full story here: Subscribe to The Telegraph with our special offer: just £1 for 3 months. Start your free trial now: Get the latest headlines: and are websites of The Telegraph, the UK’s best-selling quality daily newspaper providing news and analysis on UK and world events, business, sport, lifestyle and culture.