China, France agree to contribute to Russia-Ukraine peace process

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
16 Feb 08:32

China's Foreign Minister marks his first visit to Europe since assuming office, which is scheduled to end with a visit to Moscow.

French President Emmanuel Macron (L) is welcomed by China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi upon his arrival at Beijing Capital Airport, Beijing, China January 8, 2018. (Reuters)

French President Emmanuel Macron and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi agreed that both countries share a common objective to push toward the end of the war in Ukraine, said Macron's office on Wednesday.

China's top diplomat visited France as part of his first European tour since assuming the position.

Macron and Wang "expressed the same objective of contributing to peace in accordance with international law," the statement said.

The two further discussed the consequences of the war "on the most vulnerable countries, particularly in terms of food security and financing capacity," added the statement.

Wang also met with French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna and is expected to hold a meeting with Macron's top advisor Emmanuel Bonne on Thursday.

The Chinese Foreign Minister will next head to Germany to participate in the Munich Security Conference taking place on Friday and that will last till Sunday.

He will also visit Italy and Hungary and finalize his tour in Moscow as the war in Ukraine comes toward marking the end of its first year.

The French leader said he also discussed with China's top diplomat the cooperation between the two countries to face "global challenges", including the climate issue.

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Wang's EU trip comes as tensions between Beijing and Washington are rising following the Chinese balloon incident earlier this month and the aerial unidentified objects spotted over the US, EU, and Latin America, which the US blames China for despite the lack of evidence.

The US has imposed sanctions on six Chinese entities it accuses of being tied to the balloon, which drew criticism from China on Tuesday, although the US intelligence community believes they could be "tied to some commercial or benign purpose."

China insists that the balloon shot down on February 4 was a civilian weather-monitoring aircraft, accusing the US of sending its own balloons into Chinese airspace and other countries.