By Le Figaro with AFP
Published 3/24/2023 at 3:08 PM, updated 3/24/2023 at 4:22 PM
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Reception of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen by President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace in Paris, June 3, 2022. JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP
French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Friday February 24 that he would be accompanied by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on his trip to China in early April.
“I have offered President von der Leyen to accompany me on part of the visit to raise a ‘united (European) voice’ against Beijing,” he said during a press conference on the outcome of a European summit in Brussels. The head of state recalled that in the face of Russia and the war in Ukraine he “sought to coordinate and carry a European voice”.
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Enlist China on our side to put pressure on Russia.
Emmanuel Macron, President of the Republic
We must “try as much as possible to get China on our side in order to put pressure on Russia to obviously not use chemical and nuclear weapons and (..) end the conflict, return to the negotiating table and allow respect for international law , that is, the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine,” he said.
Ursula von der Leyen will deliver a speech on EU-China relations in Brussels on Thursday. During their discussions on the issue in the autumn, European leaders showed anxious to find their own way towards China, without aligning themselves with the United States and being drawn into a logic of “systematic confrontation”.