WATCH: White House pushes back against joint statement from Russia, China

White House press secretary Jen Psaki pushed back at a joint statement issued by the leaders of Russia and China  who had declared their opposition to any expansion of NATO and affirmed that the island of Taiwan is a part of China.

Watch Psaki’s remarks in the player above.

Psaki said U.S. President Joe Biden believed that a “destabilizing conflict in Europe would impact China’s interests all over the world and certainly China should know that.”

Russia’s Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping met hours before the Winter Olympics kicked off in Beijing.

They highlighted what they called “interference in the internal affairs” of other states, as both leaders face criticism from Washington over their foreign and domestic policies.

READ MORE: Russia, China push back against U.S. and NATO in pre-Olympics summit

Pushed by reporters to back up intelligence and national security claims this week on Russia and Syria, Psaki demurred saying the Biden administration welcomes “tough questions and good faith scrutiny.”

The latest scrutiny seemed to have struck a nerve with the administration, resulting in barbed interactions with White House press secretary Jen Psaki and State Department spokesman Ned Price that stood out even amidst the typically contentious relationship between the government and the media that covers it.

Psaki used Friday’s White House briefing to reiterate examples of previous Russian tactics to sow dissention between allies.

She said there were limitations on sharing intelligence out of concern to protect sources and methods.