Emmanuel Macron, on a state visit to Beijing, told his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Thursday that he was counting on him to “bring Russia to its senses” over Ukraine.
“I know I can count on you to bring reason to Russia and everyone at the negotiating table,” the French head of state told Xi Jinping during an official bilateral meeting.
“We need to find a lasting peace, that is, a peace that respects internationally recognized borders and avoids any form of escalation,” he added. “And I think it’s also an important issue for China, as well as for France and for Europe.”
For his part, the Chinese president hailed ties with France in a world undergoing “profound changes.” The two presidents on Thursday called for peace talks as soon as possible to end the conflict in Ukraine, also rejecting any use of nuclear weapons.
We need “a resumption of discussions as soon as possible to build a lasting peace”, the French head of state advocated in particular, while his Chinese counterpart considered that “nuclear weapons cannot be used” and condemned any “attack against civilians”. in joint statements following their bilateral talks.
Ursula von der Leyen also in Beijing
At the end of the afternoon, the two leaders will have to make statements to the press, then a trilateral meeting will be held in the presence of the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, also in Beijing.
At the center of the discussions: the war in Ukraine. Received in the morning by Prime Minister Li Qiang, Emmanuel Macron “spoke about the conflict in Ukraine,” according to the French presidency.
“In these turbulent times that we are going through,” he stressed “the importance” of the “dialogue between China and France.”
For her part, Ursula von der Leyen, received by Li Qiang, stressed that “EU-China relations have become complex in recent years, and it is important that we discuss all aspects of this relationship together today”, especially in this ” geopolitical volatile”. atmosphere”.
Beijing never condemned the Russian invasion
In recent weeks, international pressure has turned a notch on China to encourage it to get involved in peace in Ukraine. Because, if Beijing says it is officially neutral, Xi Jinping never condemned the Russian invasion or even spoke to his Ukrainian counterpart Volodomyr Zelensky on the phone. Instead, he recently went to Moscow to reaffirm his alliance with Russian President Vladimir Putin under the guise of an anti-Western front.
In this context, Emmanuel Macron has the ambition of “being a voice that unites Europe”, for which he invited the president of the European Commission to accompany him, as he recalled this Wednesday in a speech. But will the two adopt the same tone? On the first day of his three-day state visit, the French president said on Wednesday that Beijing could play an “important role” in “finding a path to peace” in Ukraine.
Ursula von der Leyen to her I launched a mise en garde nettement plus sévère la semaine dernière à Bruxelles: “La manière dont la Chine continuera de réagir face à la guerre de Putine will be a determining factor of the future of relations between the EU and China”.
Source: BFM TV
