"We do have deep concerns about China's alignment with Russia," a senior US official told reporters, speaking on condition of anonymity, adding: "It was a very candid conversation."

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Yang Jiechi, the Chinese Communist Party's chief diplomat, met in a Rome hotel for what a White House readout described as a "substantial" session.

The White House said the two officials also "underscored the importance of maintaining open lines of communication between the United States and China."

Moscow and Beijing have drawn closer in what Washington sees as an increasingly hostile alliance of the authoritarian nuclear powers.

Sullivan's meeting with the top Chinese diplomat was planned weeks ago, officials say, but the encounter took on new importance against the backdrop of President Vladimir Putin's onslaught against Ukrainian cities.

The officials were also meeting a day after US media reported that Russia has asked China for military and economic assistance as its troops struggle to make ground in Ukraine and its economy faces devastation from Western sanctions.

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