War in Ukraine: Trump hopes China will help end war in Russia

Donald Trump has said he would like China’s help in dealing with Russia as he tries to end the war in Ukraine.

“I would like China to help us with Russia,” the US president said aboard Air Force One as he flew to Asia for a whirlwind tour where he will meet China’s Xi Jinping in South Korea.

However, it could be wishful thinking. China is Russia’s biggest ally and a vital support for 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 it Tomahawk cruise missilesEU leaders has not released any frozen Russian money to help fund its defense, and there have been more deadly attacks.

Ending the war between Russia and Ukraine has become a focus for Trump in recent months, with a ceasefire deal so far eluding him despite his campaign promises to resolve the situation quickly. A summit with Putin in August produced no tangible results, and Trump has grown increasingly frustrated with Moscow.

“Every time I talk to Vladimir, I have good conversations and then they go nowhere,” Trump said earlier this week.

He announced on Wednesday new sanctions against Russia’s two largest oil companies – the first direct interventions imposed on Russia by the Trump administration during the war. What effect the blacklist will have in the long term remains to be seen, but the Kremlin said it was “immune” from the sanctions.

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

‘I would like 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 see the war end.

Earlier this week, Trump said the Chinese president “could have a major influence on Putin.”

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

Putin and Xi have previously touted the relationship between their countries as a “friendship without borders,” and Russia hopes gas exports to China and other countries will replace revenues lost after Western sanctions were imposed.

The warm relations between Russia and China were on full display last month when Putin, Xi and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un met in Beijing in an extraordinary show of solidarity and military might.

As Trump made his remarks on Air Force One, emergency services in Ukraine were at the scene 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 this evil,” he wrote on Telegram, reiterating the need for Ukraine’s allies to step up support.

Meanwhile, residents of Russia’s Belgorod region living near a dam were told to evacuate after a Ukrainian attack on the local reservoir caused damage that could lead to flooding.