French President Emmanuel Macron thinks that in the situation around Ukraine, China may play an important part thanks to its good relations with Russia.

“China, having recently reaffirmed its strong ties with Russia, may play an important role,” he said at the beginning of his visit to China on Wednesday speaking before the local French community.

The French leader added that China had also confirmed its commitment to the UN Charter, “part of which is the observance of the countries’ territorial integrity and sovereignty.” “I think that defending them means <…> trying to find a path to peace,” he noted. Macron added that by proposing a settlement document, Beijing is sending a clear signal of its readiness to participate in this process. “Recently, China proposed a peace plan. We welcomed it. Do we completely agree with it? No. Nevertheless, there is interest [on the part of China] that indicates its readiness to participate in resolving the conflict,” he said.

At the end of February, China’s Foreign Ministry published a document outlining its position on settling the crisis in Ukraine. It consists of 12 provisions, including calls for a ceasefire, observing the legitimate security interests of all countries, resolving the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, POW swaps between Moscow and Kiev as well as abandoning any unilateral sanctions without a relevant UN Security Council decision. China said that dialogue and talks were the “only way to settle the Ukrainian crisis” and called on all sides to support Moscow and Kiev in “moving toward each other” as well as to resume dialogue as soon as possible. It was stressed that the global community should foster conditions and provide a platform for the resumption of talks.

Source: Agencies