PARIS
\nFrench President Emmanuel Macron will next week make a new push to try and dissuade China\u2019s Xi Jinping from supporting Russian President Vladimir Putin\u2019s war against Ukraine but is unlikely to make a breakthrough on ending the conflict during the visit, observers say.
\nPresident Xi\u2019s visit is set to be rich on symbolism \u2014 with a sumptuous dinner at the Elysee Palace and a trip to the Pyrenees mountains planned \u2014 but risks being short on diplomatic success for the French leader.
\n\u201cFrance and the European Union expect him to use his influence on Russia, but Xi Jinping has nothing to offer on Ukraine,\u201d said a former European diplomat, asking not to be named.
\nXi is due to make a state visit to France on Monday and Tuesday, followed by visits to Serbia and Hungary, two European countries retaining warm ties with Russia.
\nWhile Xi and Macron will discuss international crises, trade, climate change and cultural exchanges, the key aim will be to \u201cpoint out that for Europe, the first issue with China is its position on Ukraine,\u201d said a source close to the French government.
\nOn a visit to China in 2023, Macron had already called on Xi to \u201cbring Russia to its senses\u201d over Ukraine and urged him not to deliver weapons to Moscow.
\nLittle has changed, however. Xi will host Putin for talks in China later this month.
\nMacron, 46, indicated he had not given up on the idea of trying to get Xi, 70, on his side.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s not in China\u2019s interest today to have a Russia that destabilizes the international order,\u201d the French president said in an interview with The Economist published on Thursday. \u201cWe need to work with China to build peace.\u201d
\nEuropean Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who has urged Beijing to play a greater role in ending the Ukraine war, will join Macron and Xi for talks on Monday.
\nMacron has said he will ask the Chinese president to help him achieve that aim when he visits Paris, which is preparing to host the Olympic Games this summer.
\nThere is a historic tradition that peace should reign during the Olympics \u2014 although the opening of the Games in Beijing in August 2008 did not halt Russia\u2019s invasion of Georgia.
\n\u201cOn Ukraine, China has done nothing,\u201d said Marc Julienne, director of the Center for Asian Studies at the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI).
\nIn February 2023, China published a 12-point position paper on Ukraine, but it was rejected by Kyiv and its Western allies.
\nBeijing, which says it is a neutral party in the Ukraine conflict, has been criticized for refusing to condemn Moscow for its offensive.
\nThe United States had accused China of helping Russia carry out its biggest militarization since Soviet times.
\nUS officials say China has provided dual-use supplies that have let Russia regroup in the face of a long delay in US aid to Ukraine.
\nIn April, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said this included \u201cmachine tools, semiconductors, other dual-use items that have helped Russia rebuild the defense industrial base that sanctions and export controls had done so much to degrade.\u201d
\nChina has rejected the US claims as \u201cgroundless accusations.\u201d
\nMacron, too, is expected to raise \u201cconcerns\u201d about \u201cthe activity of certain Wuhan companies that could be directly involved in or contribute significantly to the Russian war effort,\u201d according to a member of his team.
\nBeijing is a major supporter of the Russian economy.
\nChina-Russia trade in 2023 reached a record $240 billion, according to customs data, overshooting a goal of $200 billion set by the neighbors.
\nExperts say Beijing is unlikely to renounce support for Moscow, which it sees as a priority partner in its opposition to the United States.
\n\u201cXi Jinping\u2019s priority is the Global South,\u201d said Emmanuel Lincot, a China expert at the Catholic University of Paris.
\n\u201cThere is a congruence in the Sino-Russian bilateral relationship, particularly in the desire to counter the West. Which is not to say that there is no rivalry.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PARIS French President Emmanuel Macron will next week make a new push to try and dissuade China\u2019s Xi Jinping from supporting Russian President Vladimir Putin\u2019s war against Ukraine but is unlikely to make a breakthrough on ending the conflict during the visit, observers say. President Xi\u2019s visit is set to be rich on symbolism \u2014 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":404530,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-404519","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n