President of European Council called on China’s leader to influence russia regarding war with Ukraine

The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, met with the President of the People's Republic of China, Xi Jinping, and urged him to use his influence on the russian federation in connection with its war in Ukraine.

Reuters writes about it, Rubryka reports.

According to Michel, the war discussion took up "a lot of time" during their three-hour meeting in Beijing, where trade, climate, human rights, and the recovery from COVID-19, Xinjiang, and Taiwan were also discussed.

Michel noted: "I urged President Xi, as we did at our EU-China summit in April, to use his influence on russia to respect the UN charter."

He added that Xi Jinping has made it clear that China does not provide weapons to russia and that nuclear threats are unacceptable.

Michel's visit comes just weeks after Chinese authorities canceled his speech at the opening ceremony of a major trade fair, in which he had planned to criticize russia's war in Ukraine and call for a reduction in the EU's trade dependence on China.

Chinese state media reported earlier in the day that Xi told Michel that China would strengthen strategic ties and coordination with the European Union.

"China will remain open to European companies and hopes the EU can eliminate interference to provide a fair and transparent business environment for Chinese companies," Xi told Michel, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

Neither Xi Jinping nor CCTV clarified what he meant by "interference."

Xi Jinping said China and the EU should strengthen macroeconomic policy coordination and mutual benefits, jointly create new growth engines and ensure the security, stability, and reliability of industrial supply chains.

According to the European Council president, he also told Xi about the difficulties EU companies and investors are facing in China.

Michel observed: "On the European side, market access is very open, while in China, some sectors remain much more closed."

His visit comes after European leaders raised concerns about economic dependence on China at a meeting in October.