French President Emmanuel Macron "counts" on China and its leader Xi Jinping to "bring Russia to its senses" and on peace talks "as soon as possible".
While the president of the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen, encouraging direct contact with President Volodymyr Zelensky, reported that "it was interesting to hear that President Xi reiterated his willingness to speak with him when the conditions are right". as French sources also reported.
The Chinese puzzle was not solved by the European couple Macron-von der Leyen in the unprecedented joint mission to Beijing, but he clarified what the EU will not accept in the Ukrainian crisis: the
From Moscow, however, while giving Beijing "a very effective and impressive potential for mediation", Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov nipped any negotiating hypothesis, defining "the situation with Ukraine is still difficult: for now there are no prospects for a peaceful solution".
After welcoming Macron in the afternoon with full honors in Tiananmen Square amidst a labyrinth of red carpets, a guard of honor and a suggestive small military parade, in his meeting with the media in the Great Hall of the People Xi relied on the formulas already notes of the 12-point document of the end of February on the Chinese proposal for a political solution to the Ukrainian crisis.
Above all, the promotion of "peace talks"
between the parties to start as soon as possible and the willingness to collaborate with France (and other countries) so that the international community "maintains rational moderation" against actions that aggravate the crisis or "lead it out of control".
While the reference to territorial integrity and sovereignty appeared more subtle, as opposed to the request addressed to the EU for greater "strategic autonomy" with respect to the USA.
"Only time will clarify China's next moves, but the EU has drawn its red lines which it does not want to be crossed", a European diplomatic source commented to ANSA.
While the reference to territorial integrity and sovereignty appeared more subtle, as opposed to the request addressed to the EU for greater "strategic autonomy" with respect to the USA.
"Only time will clarify China's next moves, but the EU has drawn its red lines which it does not want to be crossed", a European diplomatic source commented to ANSA.
While the reference to territorial integrity and sovereignty appeared more subtle, as opposed to the request addressed to the EU for greater "strategic autonomy" with respect to the USA.
"Only time will clarify China's next moves, but the EU has drawn its red lines which it does not want to be crossed", a European diplomatic source commented to ANSA.
Macron for his part, who will see Xi tomorrow in Canton, has secured important commercial agreements, such as the doubling of the Airbus assembly line in China.
While von der Leyen, in the evening, listed the topics covered in the meetings.
"Our trade relationship is increasingly unbalanced - he began at the press conference -. In the last 10 years, the EU trade deficit has more than tripled to almost 400 billion: we discussed it because the trajectory is not sustainable", he explained the former German defense minister citing structural problems such as the requirements imposed by China, between technology transfer and intellectual property infringement.
You then assured that there will be greater attention to the export of technologies, even of dual use: not US-style decoupling,
but de-risking ("the reduction of risks that I spoke about with Xi and Premier Li Qiang"), thinking about self-sufficiency.
“We want to define where we see the risks and address them, strengthen our supply chains and diversify them,” she added, mentioning the case of Russian gas.
Von der Leyen then raised the issue of human rights ("I expressed our deep concern starting from Xinjiang") and Taiwan, on which he had clear words: "The threat of using force to change the status quo is unacceptable , it is important that tensions are resolved through dialogue".
In Taipei, meanwhile, the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong is under close scrutiny along with the Chinese threat to inspect vessels in the Taiwan Strait in response to the
meeting on Wednesday in Los Angeles between the president of the island Tsai Ing-wen and the speaker of the American House Kevin McCarthy.
The Shandong, which was last detected east of Taiwan's southern tip, has entered the western Pacific for the first time since commissioning in 2019. But the US aircraft carrier Uss Nimitz is also not far east of Taiwan, the minister said. of Taipei Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng.
