Emmanuel Macron could not convince Xi Jinping to accuse Russia of aggression in Ukraine
Chinese President Xi Jinping showed no sign of changing his position on the war started by Russia in Ukraine after Thursday's talks with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, writes Politico Europe, according to Digi24.
On the second day of the French president's state visit to China, the Beijing leader expressed his already known position on Russia's large-scale invasion of Ukraine, saying that "all sides" have "reasonable security concerns ".
Xi Jinping rules that he will use his influence to help end the war, Politico's journalists also write.
"China is willing to appeal together with France to the international community to remain rational and calm," the Chinese leader said during a press conference in Beijing.
"Peace talks should be resumed as soon as possible, taking into account the reasonable security concerns of all parties, with reference to the UN Charter... seeking political solutions and building a balanced, effective and sustainable European security framework," Xi Jinping said.
The French president arrived in China on Wednesday hoping to persuade the Chinese leader to use his influence with Russia to end the war in Ukraine and get Beijing to speak out against the Kremlin's threat to host nuclear missiles in Belarus. Instead, Emmanuel Macron and Xi Jinping spent an hour and a half in bilateral talks that were described as "frank and constructive" by an Elysée Palace official, before signing several deals, including the sale of Airbus jets, as well as in terms of cultural cooperation.
During the agreement signing ceremony, each Chinese minister and business director greeted Xi Jinping before signing the contracts with their French counterparts. Politico reporters say Emmanuel Macron spoke about twice as much as his host during the press conference, and Xi Jinping appeared impatient and annoyed at times as Emmanuel Macron continued to speak. At the press conference, Emmanuel Macron appealed to Xi Jinping to explicitly condemn Russia's aggression against Ukraine. "Talking about peace and stability means talking about Russia's war against Ukraine. You have made some important comments. This is a war that involves us all because a member of the Security Council decided to violate the UN Charter. We cannot accept this," Emmanuel Macron said.
He also criticized Russia's threat to station nuclear weapons in Belarus as "inconsistent" with international nuclear agreements.
