(Bloomberg) -- European Union leaders said they told China in a virtual summit Friday that they expect Beijing to help end Russia’s war in Ukraine and at the very least not to interfere with international sanctions imposed on Moscow.
“We expect China, if not supporting the sanctions, at least to do everything not to interfere in any kind,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters after the meeting. “On that point we were very clear.” She added that the EU expected China to use its influence on Russia to end to the war.
Von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel held separate sessions by videoconference with Chinese President Xi Jinping and its prime minister, Li Keqiang on Friday where they discussed the war in Ukraine, as well as a series of trade and human-rights issues.
The long-scheduled summit was an important opportunity for EU leaders to set out their expectations for Beijing, which has been measured in its reaction to the invasion.
“We called on China to help end the war in Ukraine,” Michel said at a news conference in Brussels. “China cannot turn a blind eye to Russia’s violation of international law.”
The EU leaders warned their Chinese counterparts against helping Russia either on avoiding sanctions, or by supplying weapons, underlying this would only serve to prolong the war and hurt global trade.
“Prolongation of the war and the disruptions it brings to the world economy is in no one’s interests, certainly not in China’s,” von der Leyen said.
China focused most of its readouts on trade and a range of other topics, but a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson tweeted that Xi told EU leaders that the current situation in Ukraine is “deeply regrettable” and that Beijing “stands on the side of peace.”
Xi called on Europe to “form its own perception of China” and to adopt an independent China policy, according to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In the statement’s only explicit reference to Ukraine, Xi said that China and Europe should enhance communication on world issues amid the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic, difficult global economic recovery and the crisis in Ukraine.
In the first meeting of the summit, the prime minister told EU leaders that China is willing to play a constructive role with the international community on Ukraine.
“China has been promoting talks for peace in its own way, and will continue to work with the EU and the international community to play a constructive role for early easing of the situation, cessation of hostilities, prevention of a larger-scale humanitarian crisis, and the return of peace at an early date,” Li said, according to a readout from the official Xinhua News Agency.
The EU leaders said they raised contentious issues including coercive trade measures against Lithuania, human rights in Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The EU leaders, however, offered to continue to cooperate on a range of issues from the Covid-19 pandemic to biodiversity and climate change.
©2022 Bloomberg L.P.
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