Trump hopes China will help end Russia’s war

Donald Trump has said he wants China’s help in dealing with Russia to end the war in Ukraine.

“I think China should help us in Russia,” the US president said aboard Air Force One as he left for a whirlwind trip to Asia, where he will meet China’s Xi Jinping in South Korea.

However, this may be wishful thinking. China is Russia’s biggest ally and has been a crucial supporter of Moscow since Western sanctions were imposed over the war in Ukraine.

Trump’s comments come after a difficult week for Kiev – the US Refused to give up Tomahawk cruise missilesEU leaders The frozen Russian cash was not released To help fund his defense, and more deadly strikes have occurred.

Ending the Russia-Ukraine war has become a focal point for Trump in recent months, with a ceasefire agreement thus far eluding him, despite his campaign promises to resolve the situation quickly. A summit with Putin in August yielded no concrete results, and Trump has grown increasingly frustrated with Moscow.

“Every time I talk to Vladimir I have a good conversation and then they don’t go anywhere,” Trump said earlier this week.

He announced on Wednesday New sanctions on Russia’s two biggest oil companies – The Trump administration’s first direct intervention at war with Russia. It remains to be seen what effect the blacklisting will have in the long run, but the Kremlin has said it is “immune” to sanctions.

The focus is expected to be on Trump’s meeting with Xi on Thursday Hostile trade relations between the US and ChinaTrump said he would talk to Xi about “everything,” including the war in Ukraine.

“I want to see China help us (with Russia). I have a very good relationship with President Xi. Very good,” he said, adding that Xi wants to end the war.

Trump said earlier this week that the Chinese president “could have a lot of influence over Putin”.

Beijing has never criticized Russia’s war in Ukraine and is accused by the US and its allies of aiding Russia’s war effort – which Beijing denies – through purchases of Russian oil and monthly supplies of dual-use materials (with both commercial and military applications).

Putin and Xi have previously described their countries’ relationship as “friendship without limits,” and Russia hopes that gas exports to China and other countries will replace lost revenue after Western sanctions were imposed.

Warming ties between Russia and China were on full display last month, when Putin, Xi and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un met in Beijing for an extraordinary display of unity and military might.

As Trump made his remarks on Air Force One, emergency workers in Ukraine were at the site of more Russian attacks, including some in Kiev, that killed several people, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

“No country should be left alone in the face of such evils,” he wrote in a telegram, repeating the need for stepped-up support to Ukraine’s allies.

Meanwhile, in Russia’s Belgorod region, residents living near a dam were told to evacuate after a Ukrainian strike on a local reservoir caused damage that could cause flooding.