Reuters: Macron Will Urge Xi Jinping To Put Pressure On Putin

To end the war in Ukraine.

During Chinese leader Xi Jinping's visit to Paris this Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron intends to press his Chinese counterpart for Beijing to reduce trade imbalances and will try to persuade him to use his influence with Moscow over the Russian war against Ukraine.

Reuters reports this.

None of these issues are expected to be easy to achieve during Xi's two-day stay in France, where he visited amid rising trade tensions between Europe and China.

Paris is backing a European Union investigation into Chinese electric car exports, while Beijing launched an investigation into French cognac imports back in January. Observers explain this move by China as “revenge” due to the growing number of EU investigations.

“We must continue to insist that the Chinese authorities give us more guarantees on trade issues,” an Elysee Palace adviser said ahead of Xi's visit.

France is also seeking to encourage China to put pressure on Moscow to stop its military aggression against Ukraine.

However, little progress has now been made beyond Xi Jinping's decision to call Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for the first time shortly after Macron's visit to Beijing last year, the publication said.

“China is one of Russia's main partners, our goal is to use the leverage it has over Moscow to change Russia's calculus and help resolve the conflict,” said the same Elysee Palace adviser.

A French diplomatic source said that if the Chinese seek to deepen relations with European partners, it is very important that “they hear our point of view and begin to take it seriously”.

Note that Chinese leader Xi Jinping will visit Europe for the first time in about 5 years amid rising tensions with the West over a number of issues, including trade, accusations of espionage and Beijing's support for Russia.

This visit will last from May 5-10 and will cover France, Serbia and Hungary.