China must pressure Russia into stopping war in Ukraine – EU leaders

The leaders of the EU member states at the European Council meeting on 29-30 June reached an agreement concerning the relations with China, in which they first and foremost called upon China to influence Russia in the context of the full-scale war in Ukraine.

Source: conclusions of the European Council meeting cited by European Pravda

As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China "bears special responsibility" for maintaining international order based on the rules, the UN Statute and the international law.

"Hence, the European Council calls on China to press Russia to stop its war of aggression, and immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw its troops from Ukraine," the document reads.

The EU leaders confirmed the multidimensionality of the policy concerning China, in which it is "simultaneously a partner, a competitor and a systemic rival".

"Despite their different political and economic systems, the European Union and China have a shared interest in pursuing constructive and stable relations, anchored in respect for the rules-based international order, balanced engagement and reciprocity," they clarify.

Such politics provides for the interaction between Brussels and Beijing in solving global issues as well as trade interaction. At the same time, the EU expresses its readiness to raise the issues of human rights before China, mainly the oppression of Muslim population in Xinjiang and Tibet.

The EU started to reconsider its policy concerning China earlier this year against the backdrop of Russia continuing to wage the full-scale war against Ukraine. In the spring, the European leaders activated their contacts with China, trying to make it a mediator in order to stop the war in Ukraine.

Earlier the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China reacted to the statement of its EU ambassador Fu Cong, who did not rule out Beijing supporting Ukraine in its ambition to restore its territorial integrity, returning to the borders of 1991.

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