French president plans Beijing trip to seek China’s help mediating Russia’s war on Ukraine
- Emmanuel Macron says visit would come early in 2023 ‘to avoid … a resumption of even stronger offensives on the ground from early February’
- Analysts are sceptical, noting that China has continually expressed a desire for a peaceful settlement, but has taken no action towards ending the conflict
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday he would visit China early next year, hoping to persuade Beijing to help mediate an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Addressing reporters at the Group of 20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, Macron said he was “convinced that China can play a more important mediation role alongside us in the coming months, in order to avoid in particular a resumption of even stronger offensives on the ground from early February”.
Macron said he had discussed his visit to Beijing with Chinese President Xi Jinping when the pair met on the sidelines of the summit on Tuesday, part of a flurry of diplomatic activity between Xi and European leaders.
Following a meeting between Xi and new Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Wednesday, Italian media reported that she had also accepted an invitation to visit Beijing.
Meloni, a far-right minister who has previously espoused hawkish views towards China, declined to say whether she would renew Italy’s membership in Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, according to the reports.
In July, the South China Morning Post reported that the Chinese government had invited leaders of France, Germany, Italy and Spain to Beijing.