The Paris Stock Exchange closed on a stable note (+0.12% for the Bedroom 40, at 6,620.24 points) while waiting for more information to filter out on the telephone conversation that the American and Chinese presidents had this afternoon, the first since the start of the war in Ukraine. The call between Joe Biden and Xi Jinping, which lasted almost two hours, unusually long, ended shortly before 4 p.m.
This call was to be an opportunity for Joe Biden to assess China’s position vis-à-vis Russia, measure its support for Vladimir Putin and convince it to reject Moscow’s request for economic and military aid. . Joe Biden had to tell Xi that China faced retaliatory measures if he supported Moscow.
The White House has yet to issue an official account, unlike China; it is available on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Chinese president told Joe Biden that their two countries should shoulder their international responsibilities and work for world peace. A Chinese aircraft carrier was sailing through the Taiwan Strait shortly before the start of the interview, according to AFP, citing the country’s defense ministry.
The Chinese account did not reveal whether the US president had changed Xi’s thinking on Russia in any way.
Ukraine ‘drags’ talks
This morning Vladimir Putin informed German Chancellor Olaf Scholz that Ukraine was seeking “drag” the talks by presenting “increasingly unrealistic demands”, according to the Russian news agency Interfax, reporting a transcript by the Kremlin of the telephone conversation. Yesterday he said that reports indicating substantial progress in the talks were ” false “, according to the financial information agency Bloomberg, relaying the words of the spokesman for the Putin presidency, Dmitry Peskov. The latter was already accusing kyiv of slowing down the negotiations: Ukraine is not “not in a hurry” to conclude a ceasefire agreement when, according to him, the Russian negotiators are ready to work around the clock.
The talks are continuing, the discussions are not broken off, which still leaves hope to the Stock Exchange that an agreement will be found. That said, this hope was further diminished by statements made yesterday evening, when the Stock Exchange was closed, by the American Secretary of State, Antony Blinken. At a press conference, he said he saw no signs that Vladimir Putin was ready to stop the invasion.
According to the Bloomberg agency, the American secret services also warned last night that the Russian president should be expected to brandish the nuclear threat in the event that his army fails to put down the Ukrainian resistance. , which would cause him to lose face. In a report obtained by Bloomberg, Lt. Gen. Scott Berrier, director of the Pentagon’s Defense Intelligence Agency, wrote: the resistance “threatens to sap Russian military manpower and reduce its arsenal, while economic sanctions will likely plunge Russia into a long depression and diplomatic isolation. »