April 6 (UPI) — European Union President Ursula von der Leyen and French President Emmanuel Macron tried to nudge Chinese President Xi Jinping to make use of his leverage to encourage peace in Ukraine throughout their assembly in Beijing on Thursday.

Xi, although, caught to previous feedback that “all sides” have safety considerations in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and that peace talks ought to happen with the considerations of each side in thoughts. Von der Leyen and Macron held a trilateral assembly with Xi, which additionally included financial and local weather change points.

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“We discussed in detail the European approach to de-risk, not to de-couple,” von der Leyen said in a statement. “We exchanged views on the Russian battle in Ukraine — Ukraine a rustic that’s defending its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

“There needs to be just peace and full respect of the U.N. Charter and international law. And both, the European Union and China, we can contribute.”

In a joint press briefing with Xi, Macron mentioned he believed China can play a key role in bringing peace within the Russia-Ukraine battle, declaring that Moscow is the aggressor within the battle.

“Speaking about peace and stability means talking about the war waged by Russia against Ukraine,” Macron mentioned at Beijing’s Great Hall with Xi. “You’ve made some important comments. This is a war that involves all of us because a member of the Security Council has decided to violate the U.N. charter. We cannot accept that.”

Xi, although, declined to verbally place blame on its ally Russia, opting to name for peace a peaceable decision neutrally.

“China is willing to jointly appeal with France to the international community to remain rational and calm,” Xi mentioned within the briefing.

“Peace talks should be resumed as soon as possible, taking into account the reasonable security concerns of all sides with reference to the U.N. Charter … seeking political resolution and constructing a balanced, effective and sustainable European security framework.”

China welcomed Macron, who’s on a state go to to Beijing, with a army parade earlier than his closed-door talks with Xi.

Von der Leyen mentioned she met with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Thursday.

“Our economies are strongly interconnected but the EU trade deficit is increasing due to discriminatory practices,” von der Leyen said on Twitter. “I discussed with Premier Li how to rebalance our trade. We should resume our high-level economic and trade dialogue to engage on this.”