US President Donald Trump said that during his upcoming meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping he hopes to discuss ways to end the war in Ukraine.
Trump spoke to journalists aboard the presidential plane, which is heading to Asia, where the head of the White House intends to spend five days. He will visit Malaysia, Japan and South Korea, and will also participate in the meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which begins on Sunday in Kuala Lumpur.
Trump was asked if he hoped for China's help in settling the Russia-Ukraine war.
"We would like China to help us with Russia, the American president replied. — We have imposed very large sanctions on Russia. I think these sanctions will be very binding. But I would like China to help us".
China claims to be neutral on the issue of Russia's war in Ukraine, but it does not join Western sanctions against Moscow, continues to supply it with dual-use goods and buys significant amounts of Russian oil.
During the recent EU forum in Brussels, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that China is not interested in Kiev winning and Moscow losing.
Journalists asked Trump if he was concerned that the sanctions he imposed on Russia would lead to escalation by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"I don't think so. He said they wouldn't have that much of an impact. That's what he says. I don't think he's right about that. Let's see what happens. I think he wants to end it too," the US president replied.
At the end of the week, Trump imposed sanctions on the two largest Russian oil companies: ""Rosneft" and "Lukoil". Commenting on this decision, Putin said that this was a serious step that harmed Russian-American relations, but would not have a significant impact on the Russian economy.