The head of the Spanish government, Pedro Sánchez, condemned on Thursday from China the “brutal and illegal aggression” of Russia against Ukraine, but praised the diplomatic efforts of Beijing, which presented a peace proposal for this war.
The Spanish leader, who will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Friday, participated in the Boao economic forum on the island of Hainan at the beginning of his official visit to the Asian giant.
Sánchez is the second leader of a European Union country to travel to Beijing since the start of the pandemic and the first to do so since China presented a political proposal to resolve the war in Ukraine.
Last week, Xi discussed this issue with Vladimir Putin at a summit in Moscow, where the Russian president said he was open to negotiations with Ukraine and praised the Chinese proposal.
Although the United States and the European Union have been skeptical about this plan, Sánchez praised the diplomatic efforts of China, which also mediated the recent resumption of relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia.
“Humanity is facing global challenges of an unprecedented scale: the climate emergency, the pandemic and Russia’s brutal and illegal aggression against Ukraine,” Sánchez said in the presence of Chinese Premier Li Qiang.
“It is essential to rebuild trust through dialogue, solidarity and cooperation. In this regard, I welcome the intensification of the Chinese authorities’ diplomatic contacts with leaders around the world. It reflects a high degree of responsibility,” he said.
The Spanish leader, who has just participated in a European summit in Brussels and in the Ibero-American Summit in the Dominican Republic, assured that in all these meetings he heard “the same yearning for peace, stability and prosperity.”
“Nobody wants economic fragmentation or war,” he said.
Although Xi’s invitation marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral relations, Sánchez said last week that one of the objectives of the trip was to exchange views on the situation in Ukraine.
The “voice” of China “must be heard to see if we can put an end to this war,” said the Spanish leader, whose country will assume the rotating presidency of the European Union in July.
In Hainan, Sánchez advocated cooperation between China and the EU and assured that their relations “do not have to be belligerent.”
However, he warned that they will continue to “defend European values, principles and points of view.” “We won’t budge on this,” she said.