BEIJING: China says President Xi Jinping has criticised sanctions imposed on Russia over its war against Ukraine as "harmful to all sides," in a video summit with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
China has largely backed Russia in blaming the US and its allies for provoking the conflict and has abstained in votes at the United Nations over whether to condemn Moscow for its actions.
In its readout of Tuesday's conversation, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said Xi expressed "anxiety and deep pain" over the fighting, and urged the sides to pursue peace talks in which he said China was willing to play a role.
Xi gave no indication on what sort of resolution China was looking for and the only details he gave concerned the impact of sanctions. "We want to strive together to reduce the negative effects of the crisis," Xi was quoted as saying.
"Regarding the impact of sanctions on global finance, energy resources, transport and supply chain stability, in terms of a world economy already burdened by the pandemic, it is harmful to all sides."