Chinese President Xi Jinping and French President Emmanuel Macron have called for the resumption of peace talks between the Russian Federation and Ukraine. Reported by AFP.
Xi said that China plans to move towards supporting the idea of peaceful dialogue and the political resolution of the Ukrainian conflict, and in this context
Beijing, together with Paris, urged the international community to be moderate, <…> strict adherence to international humanitarian law, <…> prevent the use of nuclear weapons, <…> Resume peace talks as soon as possible.”
“China is ready to cooperate with France to urge the world community to be rational and restrained and to refrain from actions that would aggravate the crisis or spin it out of control,” he said.
Macron also turned to Xi and asked him to “influence Russia by establishing a lasting peace, reasoning”.
“I know I can count on you to bring everyone back to the negotiating table,” the French leader added.
Macron arrived in China on an official visit with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The politician said he wanted to be a “unifying voice for Europe” and stressed the consistency of his peacekeeping approach to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
He also said that European countries must renew their strategic partnership with China, which has the ability to influence current events – “time demands it.”
In turn, von der Leyen said that the development of Euro-Chinese relations depends on Beijing’s future expression of its stance towards Russia in the light of military operations against Ukraine. He also described Xi’s recent visit to Moscow as “an act of friendship that says a thousand words about a new vision of international order.”
Earlier, the French newspaper Le Figaro reported that Macron and von der Leyen will try to persuade China to oppose Russia.
The publication points out that Macron may not be able to achieve this goal, because he uses ineffective methods, especially financial pressure, to lure China into the “Western camp” on Ukraine.
According to the newspaper, the French president plans to hold intensive one-day talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping as part of his first visit to China since 2019.
Earlier, The New York Times wrote that China’s EU Ambassador Fu Cong described the “unlimited friendship” statement between China and the Russian Federation as a rhetorical tool. He made this statement before meeting with Macron and von der Leyen.
The ambassador also noted that China does not support Russia’s special operations in Ukraine and does not provide military support to Moscow.
“We are guided by the content and spirit of these contacts between Putin and Xi Jinping in Moscow,” Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for the Russian presidency, said shortly after.