China's head of state and party leader Xi Jinping has called for a political solution to the Ukraine conflict, but has not backed down from his alliance with Russian President Vladimir Putin. At a meeting with Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez in Beijing on Friday, Xi Jinping reiterated his criticism of the West: the "Cold War mentality and bloc confrontation" must be abandoned, the president said, according to state media.
Xi Jinping also backed his "strategic partner" Russia if "extreme sanctions and pressure" were to be ended. He advocated the creation of a balanced security architecture in Europe, which observers generally see as criticism of the expansion of NATO. Similar to the recently published Chinese position paper on Ukraine, there was no further criticism of the Russian war of aggression.
Sánchez actually wanted to explore the chances of mediation by China. Spain will take over the EU Council Presidency as of July. Xi Jinping visited Moscow just last week and thus further strengthened Putin's back. So far, he has not responded to Ukrainian requests to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Xi Jinping has not spoken to him since invading Russia more than a year ago.
According to Sánchez, however, China should definitely consider Zelenskyj's proposals. "I have encouraged President Xi to enter into a dialogue with President Zelenskyy to learn first-hand about the Ukrainian government's peace plan," Sanchez said at a press conference in Beijing.
Sanchéz addresses EU concerns
He explained to Xi Jinping the concerns of Spain and the whole EU about "Putin's illegal aggression" and was interested in the details of the Chinese position paper. It contains some "very important points" such as rejecting or threatening to use nuclear weapons.
It should also be emphasized that China insists on the "territorial integrity" of all countries. "According to the Spanish government, this is being violated by Putin's war," said Sánchez. However, it is not clear whether China sees it that way.
From Ukraine's point of view, China is still exploring whether it wants to get involved in a peace process, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told the Financial Times. China's Foreign Minister Qin Gang has assured him that Russia will not be supplied with weapons.
Sánchez was the first Western head of government to meet the new Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang in Beijing. Sánchez advocated a better balance in his country's and the European Union's trade relations with China, according to the Spanish government press office.
His talks dampened hopes that French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will visit Beijing next week, who also want to talk to Xi Jinping about ways to end the Ukraine war.
