Germany's Merz hopes Xi Jinping will urge Putin to stop war in Ukraine

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has expressed the hope that Chinese leader Xi Jinping will call on Russian ruler Vladimir Putin to end the war against Ukraine during Putin's visit to Beijing.

Source: Deutsche Welle (DW)

Quote from Merz: "We naturally associate this visit with the hope that President Xi will also urge President Putin to end this war in Ukraine, which he cannot win." [N.B. Ukrainska Pravda does not recognise Putin as president – ed.]

Details: Merz said he does not expect a "fundamental shift in the strategic relations between Russia and China at this stage".

Background:

• Putin and Xi are expected to hold talks on 20 May and later continue discussions over tea in the evening.
• The Russian delegation includes five deputy prime ministers, eight ministers and Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina, as well as heads of state corporations and leading businesses.
• The meeting will take place after Xi's summit with Trump.
• Bloomberg noted that this is the second time this year Xi has held diplomatic talks with Trump and Putin in close succession. The Chinese leader held separate phone calls with the US president and the Kremlin leader within the space of several hours in early February.

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