Jakarta –
The European Union is approaching Russia’s close friend, China. China is expected to rethink its relationship with Russia after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
As reported by AFP, Friday (1/4/2022), the European Union held a virtual meeting with China on Friday (1/4) local time. During the virtual meeting, Chinese President Xi Jinping will hold a video conference with European Union leaders Charles Michel and Ursula von de Leyen.
“The meeting will focus on the role we encourage China to play, to be on the side of international legal principles without ambiguity and exert all necessary influence and pressure on Russia,” said French Minister for European Affairs, Clement Beaune, whose country holds the presidency of the European Union.
“This was not the original aim of the summit, but needed to be one,” he added, although he insisted other topics such as climate change and trade ‘will not go away’.
Summits between the European Union and China usually discuss trade relations. Relations between the European Union and China have not been smooth sailing. The swapping of sanctions over the plight of China’s Muslim Uighur minority and Beijing’s forced trade in Lithuania – a member of the European Union – over Taiwan, exacerbated preparations for the meeting.
Relations between the European Union and China deteriorated after China abstained from tracking Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Some in the European Union see the emergence of the Sino-Russian bloc against the US, EU and their liberal allies.
In a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday (30/3) local time, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi emphasized that “China-Russia cooperation has no boundaries” — repeating a phrase commonly used by President Xi and President Xi Jinping. Vladimir Putin.
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