Deputy FMs Meet As France Calls For Chinese Pressure On Putin

(MNI) London - The Chinese Foreign Ministry has confirmedthat Assistant Foreign Minister Miao Deyu held talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Vershinin in Beijing to discuss issues including UN Security Council Affairs, future summits and international and reigonal hospots. The two "agreed to jointly defend multilateralism and firmly safeguard the international system with the United Nations as the core."

• The talks come ahead of an expected meeting of the two assistant ministers' superiors in Beijing in the coming days/weeks (see RUSSIA: Foreign Ministry-'No Room For NATO In Multipolar World', 1120BST).
• The diplomatic activity comes a day after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi hosted his French counterpart Stéphane Séjourné in Beijing. Séjourné said that France wants “China to send very clear messages to Russia” regarding the war in Ukraine, adding “We are convinced that there will be no lasting peace if it is not negotiated with the Ukrainians,...There will be no security for Europeans if there is no peace in accordance with international law,”
• Earlier in March, Chinese special representative for Eurasian Affairs Li Hui, following a trip invoving talks in Moscow, Kyiv, and EU capitals, stated that“At the end, they all agree that the war must be resolved through negotiations rather than guns,” Li said. All parties, he said, “recognise the danger of the current situation continuing to deteriorate”. “And they all agree with China’s call for the situation to cool down,” he added, saying they “expect China to play a more constructive role”.