KYIV-French President Emmanuel Macron said Sunday he would visit China in April, and urged Beijing to pressure Russia to end the conflict with Ukraine. China published a 12-point position paper on Friday that called for urgent peace talks and a “political settlement” to end the conflict. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday also expressed hopes to meet Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, calling it “important for world security”. Macron said Saturday he would visit China in “early April” and urged Beijing to help “put pressure” on Russia to end the war. “The fact that China is engaging in peace efforts is a good thing,” Macron said on the sidelines of an agricultural show in Paris, in reference to the position paper. Peace was only possible if “Russian aggression was halted, troops withdrawn, and the territorial sovereignty of Ukraine and its people was respected”, he added. Earlier on Saturday, the Chinese foreign ministry said Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko would pay a state visit from February 28 to March 2 at Xi’s invitation.
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