The president of the European Commission has called on Beijing to play a “constructive” role in bringing peace to Ukraine, as she prepares for a joint visit to China with France’s Emmanuel Macron. Ursula von der Leyen told the Financial Times in an interview the bloc was “concerned by [China’s] position of friendship with Russia”, but said Beijing should use its ties with Moscow to rein in Kremlin’s war, which began just over a year ago.
“China is in a position to influence Russia in a constructive way, and therefore they have a responsibility,” the commission chief said. “You cannot be in between — you cannot be for half of the international order.”
She emphasised that while President Xi Jinping had visited Moscow last month, he had still not made a phone call to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.