The Daily Populous Tuesday December 2nd, 2025 evening edition
Authored by newsukraine.rbc.ua and submitted by Themetalin

On Wednesday, December 3, French President Emmanuel Macron will ask Xi Jinping to influence Russia to achieve a ceasefire in Ukraine during his visit to China, according to a statement by French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, cited by BFM .

Macron will arrive in Beijing on Wednesday and remain there until Friday. This will be his fourth official visit to China during his presidency.

During the visit, the French president intends to ask the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, to influence Russia. In this way, Macron aims to secure a ceasefire in Ukraine and to improve trade relations between China and the EU.

"We are counting on China, which, like us, is a permanent member of the Security Council (...), to influence Russia so that Russia, and particularly Vladimir Putin, finally agrees to a ceasefire," Barrot emphasized.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is visiting Paris today, December 1. At the Élysée Palace, he will meet with French President Emmanuel Macron.

Barrot noted that today's visit by the Ukrainian leader to Paris is not accidental. He also stressed that peace negotiations on Ukraine cannot take place without European participation.

In addition, the French foreign minister stated that Russian President Vladimir Putin will have to agree to a ceasefire. Otherwise, new sanctions will be imposed on Russia.

The French foreign minister said the European Council could decide on frozen Russian assets as early as December 18. At the same time, he acknowledged that Europeans remain divided on the issue.

shadowfax12221 on December 1st, 2025 at 21:46 UTC »

China fears any outcome that does not offer the Russians a political victory and a means of stabilizing its economy. China's nightmare is Russia collapsing and having a failed, nuclear state on its borders, unencumbered US fully focused on containing its ambitions in east asia, or worse of all, a color revolution that puts Russia in the western camp and leaves China friendless and surrounded. A lot of that is unlikely, even in a worst case scenario, but these are the things that keep them up at night and certainly why China has no intention of negotiating an end to the war that doesn't guard against these outcomes.

yabn5 on December 1st, 2025 at 21:11 UTC »

Prolonged Ukraine conflict weakens Russia and EU. If Europe wants them to do something they’ll need to make it worth their time. Simply a win win win for China.

PT14_8 on December 1st, 2025 at 20:59 UTC »

China is in a situation where a ceasefire benefits them and prolonging the war benefits them... more. China doesn't care what France thinks. This has the hallmarks of Macron flying to Moscow on the eve of the war and sitting across from Putin with his guarantees.