French President to travel to China with European Commission President

Speaking at a press conference following an EU summit in Brussels, Macron said he had “suggested to von der Leyen that she accompany him to China” so they could speak “with a unified voice,” Politico reports.

"I invited President von der Leyen to accompany me for part of the visit to present a united (European) voice to Beijing," the president said.

“I don’t have a European mandate, as France has its independent diplomacy — but I’m attached to European coordination,” he added.

A European Commission spokesperson confirmed that von der Leyen will be with Macron on his trip – marking her first journey to Beijing as EU chief.

Earlier it was reported that Macron will go on a trip, which has been planned for a long time, to China on April 4. In particular, he urged his counterparts to make every effort to ensure that China does not support Russia's invasion. This is why he is travelling to China.

• On the anniversary of the start of the full-scale invasion, China published its vision of how to end the war between Russia and Ukraine.

• On March 20, Chinese President Xi Jinping had an informal meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, which lasted 4.5 hours.

• On March 21, at a meeting with Putin in the Kremlin, Xi Jinping said that "conflicts should ultimately be resolved through dialogue and negotiation," commenting on the war in Ukraine.

• Bloomberg cited sources as saying that US officials are concerned that China may try to convince some countries that Washington does not want peace in Ukraine and impose its "peace plan" on them.