BEIJING: French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday he wants to “engage China towards a shared responsibility for peace” in Ukraine when he meets Chinese leader Xi Jinping this week.
French officials said earlier Macron planned to urge Xi in talks on Thursday to use Beijing’s influence with Russian President Vladimir Putin but didn’t expect a big shift in the Chinese position.
Macron is accompanied by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in a show of European unity in dealings with Beijing. Xi and Putin declared their governments had a “no limits friendship” before Moscow’s February 2022 attack on Ukraine. Beijing has refused to criticise the Kremlin but has tried to appear neutral.