Xi Jinping Calls For 'maximum Restraint' In Ukraine

Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the opening of the China People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, 4 March 2022. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

BEIJING, March 8 – Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday called for “maximum restraint” in Ukraine and said it was “painful for China to see the flames of war flare up again in Europe,” state media said in their strongest statement to date. day. conflict.

Xi, speaking at a virtual meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, said the three countries should work together to support peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Xi described the situation in Ukraine as “worrisome” and said the priority should be to prevent it from escalating or “getting out of control,” CCTV quoted him as saying.

He also said that France and Germany should make efforts to reduce the negative effects of the crisis, and expressed concern about the impact of sanctions on the stability of global finance, energy supply, transport and supply chains.

China, which has refused to condemn Russia’s actions in Ukraine or call them an invasion, has repeatedly expressed its opposition to what it calls illegal sanctions against Russia.

China’s friendship with Russia, strengthened last month when President Vladimir Putin attended the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics on the same day the countries announced a “borderless” strategic partnership, has become awkward for China as the war in Ukraine escalates.

Moscow describes its actions in Ukraine as a “special operation” to disarm its neighbor and overthrow leaders it calls neo-Nazis. Ukraine and its Western allies are calling it an unreasonable excuse to invade a country of 44 million people.

Reporting by Yu Long Tian and Tony Munro; Editing: Andrew Havens

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