MADRID — The Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, will journey subsequent week to China for talks with President Xi Jinping, and intends to debate China’s framework for negotiating a peace settlement between Russia and Ukraine, he introduced on Thursday.
Mr. Sánchez, chatting with reporters at a European Union assembly in Brussels, mentioned he meant to “discover out first hand” what Mr. Xi’s peace framework consists of and to transmit the message that Ukraine should set up the circumstances for talks.
Mr. Xi, who simply returned to Beijing after a state go to Moscow, has been attempting to construct help for his peace framework, which has acquired a chilly reception within the West. The US and different allies of Ukraine have mentioned China’s proposal for a direct cease-fire would solely assist Russia consolidate its territorial positive factors.
“An important factor is to ensure a secure and lasting peace,” Mr. Sánchez mentioned. “And which means respecting the United Nations Constitution, the territorial integrity that’s being violated by Russia in Ukraine and the circumstances established by the Ukrainians to begin the peace dialogue.”
Spain underneath Mr. Sánchez has been a staunch ally of Ukraine, sending navy provides and promising to contribute fashionable battle tanks to Kyiv’s battle effort. However the Spanish prime minister has additionally signaled that he’s open to the likelihood that China, which has remained allied with Russia, would possibly be capable to mediate peace talks, a place that differentiates him from different European leaders.
Spain takes over the European Union’s rotating presidency for six months in July, giving Mr. Sánchez an even bigger platform for influencing the bloc than he normally has.
Mr. Sánchez’s journey takes place within the context of the fiftieth anniversary of diplomatic relations between Spain and China, and the 2 international locations anticipate to achieve commerce agreements, a senior official in Mr. Sánchez’s workplace mentioned.
The prime minister will start his journey on subsequent Thursday, with financial conferences on the Chinese language island of Hainan, on the Boao Discussion board for Asia, a convention modeled after the annual World Financial Discussion board in Davos, Switzerland. The following day, he’ll journey to Beijing for conferences with Mr. Xi, Prime Minister Li Qiang and Zhao Leji, the chairman of the Nationwide Folks’s Congress, his workplace mentioned.
The Spanish protection ministry confirmed on Thursday that it was transport six fashionable Leopard tanks to Ukraine subsequent week after assessments. “As soon as the pending firing assessments are accomplished, on the finish of subsequent week, the tanks shall be able to be despatched to Ukraine,” protection officers mentioned.
