“We hope that peace and stability will return quickly to Europe, and intend to work with France and the entire international community to find good avenues to resolve the crisis,” writes the number one of the Asian superpower, Xi Jinping, in a column published by the daily Le Figaro.
“We understand the upheaval that the Ukrainian crisis is causing for Europeans. China is not the origin of this crisis, nor is it a party or participant in it,” adds the Chinese leader. Xi Jinping assures that he has “always played a constructive role to promote a peaceful settlement” in this conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
China “provided Ukraine with humanitarian aid
He recalls having called on several occasions “to observe the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries, to take into account the legitimate security concerns of the different parties, and insisted on the imperative not to use nuclear weapons or wage nuclear war.”
China, he adds, has “provided Ukraine with humanitarian aid, and our special envoy has made several trips to the countries concerned.” During Xi Jinping’s visit to France until Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron intends to advocate commercial “reciprocity” and the search for a resolution to the war in Ukraine in the face of a Chinese president who continues to show his support to Russia.
France has its back
Paris wants to ensure that China, the main ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, does not fall into clear support for its war effort against kyiv. Even “encourage it to use the levers” it has over Moscow to “contribute to a resolution of this conflict”, according to the Élysée.
Emmanuel Macron carried this same message a year ago during his own state visit to China, with modest results. After France, the Chinese president will visit Serbia and Hungary, two countries that have remained close to Moscow.