Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday urged G20 leaders to support efforts to de-escalate the war in Ukraine and reach a “political solution”, state media reported.
His comments at the G20 summit in Brazil come shortly after Ukraine received the US green light to launch long-range missiles provided by Washington against targets inside Russia.
“The G20 should support the United Nations and its Security Council in playing a greater role and support all efforts conducive to the peaceful resolution of crises,” Xi said, according to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.
He called on leaders to “disperse” from the battlefields and avoid escalating fighting and help “defuse the Ukraine crisis and find a political solution.”
War continues in Ukraine following Russia’s invasion in 2022.
China presents itself as a neutral party in the war and says it is not sending lethal aid to either side, unlike the United States and other Western countries.
But it remains a close political and economic ally of Russia. NATO members have branded Beijing a “decisive supporter” of the war, which it has never condemned.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Monday his country is sending 4,000 AI-guided drones to Ukraine, following a change in long-range missile policy by US President Joe Biden, who left office in January.
Xi also called for efforts to promote multilateral trading systems in his speech on Monday and warned against “politicizing economic issues” without naming any specific countries.
His comments come ahead of US President-elect Donald Trump re-entering the White House in January after campaigning on a promise to impose sweeping tariffs on China and others.
Washington also unveiled sharp tariff hikes this year on Chinese goods, particularly on products such as electric vehicle batteries and solar cells, as the United States tries to boost its domestic clean energy sectors.
“We must avoid politicizing economic issues, artificially dividing the global market, and practicing protectionism in the name of green and low-carbon development,” Xi said.
Calling for cooperation on artificial intelligence, he said it should not become “a game of rich countries and the rich”.
Xi also called for “all sides to stop fighting” in Gaza and said the war between Israel and Hamas “has brought enormous suffering”, CCTV reported.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
