Emmanuel Macron announced this Saturday, during a trip to the agricultural fair, that he would go to China “at the beginning of April”, and asked Beijing to “help us put pressure on Russia” to “stop ‘aggression’ and ‘build peace’. ‘.
“I myself will go to China at the beginning of April,” said the president, on the sidelines of a trip to the agricultural fair.
“China must help us today to pressure Russia obviously so that it never uses chemicals or nuclear (…) and to stop this aggression before a negotiation,” he estimated.
The French head of state explained that this peace “is only possible if it involves the cessation of Russian aggression, the withdrawal of troops and respect for territorial sovereignty and the Ukrainian people.”
“Reconnection time” with China
“The fact that China is participating in peace efforts is quite good,” the French president said the following day on Saturday. China releases document calling for peace talks and a “political solution.”
The Élysée had already indicated in mid-February that a trip by the President of the Republic to China was “in preparation”. Paris considered that “the moment of reconnection” with Beijing had returned, in particular with the ambition of convincing the Asian giant to “contribute” to achieving peace in Ukraine.
Relations between China and the European Union were strained in 2021 when the Europeans imposed sanctions in protest of the Chinese authorities’ crackdown on the Uyghur Muslim minority. Beijing had sanctioned the European parliamentarians in retaliation.
Source: BFM TV
