Emmanuel Macron urges Xi to talk to Volodymyr Zelensky

But Xi also warned against letting the war worsen or even get out of control, and reiterated China’s opposition to the use of nuclear weapons and attacks on nuclear power plants.

China, while claiming neutrality, is seen as supporting the Russian invasion, sparking outrage on the continent and leading to further hardening of sentiment towards Beijing.

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Von der Leyen said she urged Xi to pick up the phone and call Zelensky despite China’s efforts to promote itself as a peacemaker after the Ukrainian leader revealed he had not spoken to Xi since the war began.

Interestingly, President Xi reiterated his willingness to speak when the conditions and timing are right. I think that’s a positive factor, von der Leyen told reporters in Beijing.

As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China has a great responsibility to use its influence to build a decades-long friendship with Russia.

‘We’re counting on China to actually live up to that responsibility and be very clear in its message,’ she said.

Before leaving Brussels, she warned Beijing that its behavior on Ukraine would determine the future of EU-China relations and said the bloc needed to reduce risks rather than decouple from China.

The EU’s trade relationship with China has become increasingly unbalanced, with the trade deficit more than tripling, she said.

The planned China-EU investment pact was frozen after China sanctioned a range of EU entities and MEPs.

Von der Leyen said that neither side mentioned the agreement during the talks.

‘Our position is that we do have to reassess the comprehensive investment agreement,’ she said.

Macron said he was not in favor of cutting ties with Beijing and Xi Jinping. He visited China with a large French business delegation and signed a series of deals involving Airbus, energy giant EDF and cosmetics company LOreal.

Noah Barkin, a senior consultant at research provider Rhodium Consulting, told sydney morning herald and age Says Macron pushing for business deals amid crisis.

Europe’s schizophrenia toward China is on full display in Beijing, Barkin said.

Von der Leyen has stressed the need for risk reduction in Europe, while Macron is infiltrating economic opportunism through his chief executive and business dealings.

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Europe has a degree of leverage over China at a time when the Chinese economy faces severe headwinds.

He said Ukraine might be better able to use that leverage if it didn’t conflate its war diplomacy with commerce.

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