Chinese President Xi Jinping will be on the 6th and 7th in May on a state visit to France to discuss the war in Ukraine with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, who will also take him to the Pyrenees in southern France for a short "escape" in a more informal part of the visit, the Elysée Palace announced today, quoted by France Presse, quoted by BTA.
"The visit will take place on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries and follows President Macron's visit to Beijing and Guangzhou in April 2023," said in a communique from the French presidency.< /p>
This is the beginning of the first European tour of the Chinese president after the Covid-19 pandemic, notes AFP.
"The talks will focus on international crises, first of all the war in Ukraine and the situation in the Middle East, but also on trade issues, scientific, cultural and sports cooperation, as well as on our common actions to address global challenges, more specifically - the climate emergency, the protection of biological diversity and the financial situation of the most vulnerable countries", adds the presidency.
A year ago, in China, Macron called on Xi Jinping to "bring Russia to its senses" regarding Ukraine "and for everyone to return to the negotiating table".
According to the French delegation, during the face-to-face talks, the Chinese president expressed readiness to call his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky. In fact, there was a phone call shortly after. With this, however, the diplomatic progress that Paris was counting on on the Russian-Ukrainian front ended.