China’s Xi Jinping backs Macron’s call for global Olympic truce | Wilnesh News

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday called for a global truce during this summer’s Paris Olympics after the French president and the president of the European Commission urged him to use his influence with Russia to end the war in Ukraine.

French President Emmanuel Macron is hosting a Chinese leader on his first trip to Europe in five years and is holding talks with him and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Paris, seeking to present a united front on issues ranging from trade to Ukraine.

In recent years, China has strengthened its trade and military ties with Russia as the United States and its allies imposed imposition. sanctions To both countries, especially Moscow since its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Chinese customs data show that China-Russia trade volume reached a record high of US$240.1 billion in 2023, an increase of 26.3% over the same period last year. In 2023, China’s exports to Russia increased by 46.9%, while imports from Russia increased by 13%.

“The world today is very unstable. As a member of the United Nations Security Council and a responsible country, China urges France to call a truce during the Paris Olympics,” Xi said through an interpreter next to Macron in a joint statement.

The moratorium on armed conflict under the “Olympic Truce” is a long-standing tradition that Macron said he would try to implement when Paris hosts the Summer Olympics from July 26 to August 11 and the Paralympics before the end of August.

French officials hope Xi’s support is a sign that he can use his influence to persuade Russia to reach a truce when Russian President Vladimir Putin visits China later this month.

They hope a small truce will open a wider diplomatic window.

“We want to explain the impact of this conflict on European security and our determination to support Ukraine if necessary,” Macron said, adding that Paris had no intention of changing the regime in Moscow.

Macron said he hoped Putin’s visit would help assess prospects for peace.

Xi Jinping has said he supports an international peace conference backed by Russia and Ukraine, but he has shown a lukewarm attitude toward a peace conference organized by Switzerland on June 16, to which Moscow was not invited.

“We oppose using this crisis to blame third countries, tarnish their image and incite a new cold war,” he said.

“History shows that conflicts can only be resolved through negotiation.”

Fighting on Ukraine’s eastern front has intensified in recent weeks, with Kiev’s forces awaiting vital military assistance from the United States and Europe to repel a Russian attack. Russia had previously taken a cool stance on the truce, saying Ukraine might use it as an opportunity to regroup and rearm.

Beyond financial ties, Western powers are particularly concerned that Beijing could provide weapons to Moscow and circumvent existing sanctions on civilian and military materials.

Macron said he was encouraged by Xi Jinping’s commitment on this issue.

The two European leaders were keen to stress to Xi that they were determined to continue supporting Ukraine despite its current difficulties and that Beijing needed to recognize that the conflict was likely to continue and that Western powers were not yet ready to abandon Kyiv.

“We count on China to use all its leverage over Russia to end Russia’s aggressive war in Ukraine,” von der Leyen told reporters after a trilateral meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris.

For more than a year, Western powers have been trying to persuade China not to provide Russian military support.

French diplomatic sources said Xi Jinping had made clear that Beijing had no intention of supplying arms to Moscow and was prepared to investigate the issue of dual-use materials that enabled Russia to wage war.

They say it must now be seen whether promises translate into action. The EU is currently discussing possible sanctions on some Chinese companies.