French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen visited Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday. The summit contained both salt and sugar. Macron with his entourage of French businessmen came in and softened relations with an agreement that France’s Airbus wants to make in China to set up a new Chinese production line. It also got the green light to sell roughly 160 of Airbus aircraft to China – which was roughly half of what was previously announced. The visit was not just a relationship massage between the EU and China. Ursula von der Leyen took a stricter tone and warned against arms exports to Russia. “Would damage relations significantly” After the meeting in Beijing, at the subsequent press conference, she said: – Exporting weapons to an aggressor is clearly a violation of international law. It would significantly damage relations between the EU and China. She also called on China to use the influence it has on Russia responsibly. Von der Leyen also wanted to see direct talks between China’s leader and Ukraine’s president. – I urge President Xi to talk to President Zelensky. I know from my conversations that Zelenskyy has requested it. See the feature from TV4 Nyheterna in the player above.
t4-general
EU warning to China: Do not export weapons to Russia
