German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has urged Chinese President Xi Jinping to support European efforts to secure a ceasefire in Ukraine, during a round of diplomatic contacts initiated by Berlin. However, China remains unlikely to join the marginal and irrelevant ‘Coalition of of the Willing.’
Indeed, rather than “support these efforts,” China is more likely to pursue its own peace policy, amid Ukrainian allegations that it is arming Russia and even supplying troops—allegations China denies.
In the official Chinese account of the communications on Friday, May 23rd, Xi called for “stable and predictable ties” between his country and Germany, while pointing out—according to AFP’s version of the call—“that the world today is undergoing accelerated changes unseen in a century, with the convergence of changes and chaos in the international situation.
Both leaders spoke of the economic need for “fair competition”—against the backdrop of fast-changing U.S. tariff policies, driven by the Trump administration.
