Von der Leyen expects China to persuade Russia to stop aggression against Ukraine

This was stated by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen following a meeting in Paris with French President Emmanuel Macron and Chinese President Xi Jinping, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"We specially, discussed, Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East. We agreed that Europe and China have a shared interest in (maintaining) peace and security. We count on China to use all its influence on Russia to end Russia's war aggression against Ukraine. President Xi has played an important role in de-escalating Russia's irresponsible nuclear threats. I am confident that President Xi will continue to do so against the backdrop of the ongoing nuclear threat by Russia," von der Leyen said.

According to her, the parties also discussed China's commitment not to provide lethal weapons to Russia.

"More effort is needed to stop delivery of dual-use goods to Russia that find their way to the battlefield and given the existential nature of the threat stemming from this war for both Ukraine and Europe this does affect China relations," the European Commission President stressed.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, Russia announced exercises to test the possibility of using tactical nuclear weapons in order to unconditionally ensure the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Russian state in response to provocative statements and threats by certain Western officials against the Russian Federation.

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in France on Sunday for a state visit.

Photo: Olivier Hoslet/EPA