French President Emmanuel Macron shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping after meeting the press at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Thursday. Photo by Ng Han Guan/EPA-EFE
April 6 (UPI) — European Union President Ursula von der Leyen and French President Emmanuel Macron tried to nudge Chinese President Xi Jinping to use his leverage to encourage peace in Ukraine during their meeting in Beijing on Thursday.
Xi, though, stuck to past comments that “all sides” have security concerns in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and that peace talks should take place with the concerns of both sides in mind. Von der Leyen and Macron held a trilateral meeting with Xi, which also included economic and climate change issues.
“We discussed in detail the European approach to de-risk, not to de-couple,” von der Leyen said in a statement. “We exchanged views on the Russian war in Ukraine — Ukraine a country that is defending its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
“There needs to be just peace and full respect of the U.N. Charter and international law. And both, the European Union and China, we can contribute.”
In a joint press briefing with Xi, Macron said he believed China can play a key role in bringing peace in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, pointing out that Moscow is the aggressor in the conflict.
“Speaking about peace and stability means talking about the war waged by Russia against Ukraine,” Macron said at Beijing’s Great Hall with Xi. “You’ve made some important comments. This is a war that involves all of us because a member of the Security Council has decided to violate the U.N. charter. We cannot accept that.”
Xi, though, declined to verbally place blame on its ally Russia, opting to call for peace a peaceful resolution neutrally.
“China is willing to jointly appeal with France to the international community to remain rational and calm,” Xi said in the briefing.
“Peace talks should be resumed as soon as possible, taking into account the reasonable security concerns of all sides with reference to the U.N. Charter … seeking political resolution and constructing a balanced, effective and sustainable European security framework.”
China welcomed Macron, who is on a state visit to Beijing, with a military parade before his closed-door talks with Xi.
Von der Leyen said she met with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Thursday.
“Our economies are strongly interconnected but the EU trade deficit is increasing due to discriminatory practices,” von der Leyen said on Twitter. “I discussed with Premier Li how to rebalance our trade. We should resume our high-level economic and trade dialogue to engage on this.”
