French President Emmanuel Macron said he wants to see China "play a more active role" in ending the Russian war on Ukraine, highlighting the relationship between Beijing and Moscow.
China is a key partner of Russia and has helped to support its ailing economy throughout Moscow's invasion, which sparked sprawling sanctions from Western powers.
Macron said China's President Xi Jinping should contribute to building a lasting peace in Ukraine. He noted that China is a permanent member of the UN Security Council, which gave it a "great deal of legitimacy" in doing so.
The French leader was speaking to reporters at a meeting in Paris between Ukraine's allies in Europe-a "coalition of the willing"-where they discussed how to strengthen Kyiv's position and secure its future peace as the U.S. tries to broker a ceasefire.
Also on Thursday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot began a two-day visit to China and held talks with his Chinese counterpart on Ukraine and longstanding trade disputes between China and Europe.
Barrot met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who said in a news conference afterward that both countries should "choose multilateralism over unilateralism ... and pursue mutual benefit and win-win outcomes instead of decoupling and isolation."
That echoed language frequently used by China in criticizing U.S. foreign policy and the Western-led political order.
This is a developing story and more information will be added shortly.
This article includes reporting by The Associated Press.
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This story was originally published March 27, 2025 at 10:05 AM.