EU Presidents To Quiz China's Xi On Russia Stance In Friday Summit

Stuart Lau at Politico tweets on tomorrow's EU-China virtual summit. Meetings will involve EU Commission and Council Presidents Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel, and Chinese President and Premier Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang: "The 2 EU presidents will "ask Xi to bring his influence to help end the war, considering the upcoming Communist Party congress," a senior EU official said a day before the EU-China summit. Xi's statement with Putin "reinforced the concerns about China's long-term intention."

• EU official: "This is not a normal summit. We won't have a joint statement. This is not a summit where a whole package of deliverables available, though it doesn't mean we're not wanting to work with China. But it's a reflection that this summit is not business as usual."
• EU official: "It's no secret China has been playing a balancing act, keeping a position that suits its own interests. I don't think that is likely to fundamentally change. It is in [EU's] interests to make sure that balance position doesn't become one of over-support beyond the declaration."
• EU presidents von der Leyen and Michel will have two virtual summit sessions. The first with Premier Li Keqiang takes place at 1000CET (0400ET, 0900BST, 1700JST). The second with President Xi Jinping is due to start at around 1400CET (0800ET, 1300BST, 2100JST).