French President Emmanuel Macron told his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing on Thursday that he was counting on him to “bring Russia back to reason” in the Ukraine conflict.
“I know I can count on you to bring Russia back to reason and back to the negotiating table,” Macron told Xi at a meeting at the Great Hall of the People, next to Tiananmen Square in Beijing.
The two leaders will make statements to the press at 5:30 p.m. (10:30 a.m. in Portugal), followed by a trilateral meeting in the presence of the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, who is also at an event official visit to China.
European leaders hope to convince Xi Jinping, a close ally of Moscow, to use his influence with Russian leader Vladimir Putin to end the conflict in Ukraine.
Received this morning in Beijing by the Chinese Prime Minister, Li Qiang, Macron reiterated the “importance” of the “dialogue between China and France in these turbulent times that we are going through”.
He then met with the Chairman of the National People’s Congress of China, Zhao Leji, to whom he “underlined the impacts of the war in Ukraine on security and global strategic balances.”
Von der Leyen, who was received by Li Qiang, stressed that “EU-China relations have become complex in recent years, and that it is important to address all aspects of this relationship together”, especially in a “volatile geopolitical environment”. .
Europe has been pressing China to play a role in efforts to achieve peace in Ukraine. The visits by European leaders come just weeks after Xi met Putin in Moscow.
“If there is only one country that can make Moscow change its calculations, it is China,” an official from Macron’s office admitted on Monday, quoted by the British newspaper Financial Times.
Xi and Putin previously declared “unlimited friendship” between their countries on the eve of the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Beijing refused to criticize Moscow but tried to maintain an image of neutrality, calling for a ceasefire and talks. of peace, but he has not even spoken on the phone with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodomyr Zelensky, since the conflict began.
Beijing wants to retain Putin’s government as a viable diplomatic partner to counter the US-led liberal democratic order and a reliable energy provider.
Macron said he has the ambition to “be a voice that unites Europe”, so he invited the president of the European Commission to accompany him.
On the first day of his three-day state visit, the French president said on Wednesday that Beijing can play an “important role” in “finding a path to peace” in Ukraine, citing the 12-point document on the position of China in the conflict, published last February.
Ursula von der Leyen, for her part, issued a much harsher warning last week in Brussels. “How China continues to respond to Putin’s war will be a determining factor in the future of EU-China relations,” she said.
Source: TSF
