President Steinmeier says Putin miscalculated. Europe's cohesion was only strengthened by the Russian president's invasion of Ukraine. In order to stand up to him, Steinmeier also counts on the support of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has called on Chinese President Xi Jinping to intercede with Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine. "The Federal President underlined the common interest of China and Europe in an end to the war and in respecting Ukrainian sovereignty and the withdrawal of Russian troops, which is necessary for this," said the Presidential Office in Berlin after Steinmeier had called Xi.
"In the conversation, the Federal President reaffirmed Germany's determination to continue to support Ukraine," the President's Office emphasized. Europe will not back down from Russian threats and has taken precautions against the energy crisis.
The defensiveness of Ukraine and the cohesion of Europe had been strengthened by the Russian aggression, Steinmeier emphasized in the telephone call. Putin has fundamentally miscalculated here.
According to the Presidential Office, the Federal President thanked Xi for his clear rejection of nuclear threats by Russia. In addition, the joint signal from the G20 countries, to which Germany and China belong, emphasized the validity of international law and warned of the humanitarian and economic consequences of the war.
The phone call also dealt with bilateral issues. "President Xi and I honored five decades of bilateral relations and exchanged detailed and constructive views on current challenges," said Steinmeier afterwards, according to the President's Office. The reason for the conversation was the fiftieth anniversary of bilateral relations between the Federal Republic of Germany and the People's Republic of China. The two presidents had already exchanged telegrams on this in October.
