The future of relations between the EU and China will largely depend on Beijing’s stance on Russia’s war in Ukraine, Ursula von der Leyen warned today, stressing however that it is in Europe’s interest to continue to engage with this country.

The president of the European Commission is due to travel to the Chinese capital next week with French head of state Emmanuel Macron, two weeks after visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping in Moscow, where he praised China’s “special relationship” with China. Vladimir Putin’s Russia.

“We have to be honest: how China continues to act in the face of Putin’s war will be a decisive factor for the future of EU-China relations,” stressed Ursula von der Leyen in a speech on Brussels.

China, which has never denounced Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, proposed a “peace plan” in February to end the more than a year-long war, but the US and Europe remain wary of its ability to play out mediator role. Washington and the EU have also repeatedly warned Beijing not to supply arms to Moscow.

Read Related: Ukraine: What China’s “Peace Plan” Envisions and Why Putin Doesn’t Reject It

“Instead of being upset by the brutal and illegal invasion of Ukraine, President Xi maintains his ‘boundless’ friendship with Putin’s Russia,” the president of the European Commission underlined.

“China has a duty to play a constructive role in promoting a just peace. But this peace can only be fair if it is based on respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine,” he continued.

“Any peace plan that validates Russian annexations is simply not sustainable,” stressed Ursula von der Leyen, who traveled to Washington on March 10 for talks with President Biden.

China has become ‘more aggressive’

The Europeans have multiplied contacts with the Chinese president. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is currently in Beijing. China’s “voice” “must be heard if we want to be able to put an end” to the war in Ukraine, the latter argued before departing for the Chinese capital.

After German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in November, he is the second leader of an EU country to go to China since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic more than three years ago.

According to diplomatic sources, an EU-China summit in Beijing is being prepared, but so far no date has been set. The president of the European Council Charles Michel, who was received in December by Xi Jinping, is going to participate in it together with the president of the Commission.

The relationship between the EU and China is “one of the most complex and important” in the world, the latter underlined in her speech. But it has become “more distant and more difficult” over the past few years, she added, regretting that.

“Our relationship is too important to jeopardize it by not establishing the conditions for a healthy commitment,” he insisted.

But “China has become more oppressive at home and more aggressive abroad,” Ursula von der Leyen also said, recalling that President Xi Jinping had asked the Chinese to “prepare for battle.”

“The Chinese Communist Party’s goal is a change in the international order with China at the center,” he said.

“We must not cut ourselves off from China, but we must reduce the risks,” he insisted.

The president of the European Commission listed the economic sectors of strategic importance for the European Union and the risks of an excessive dependence, especially with regard to the raw materials necessary for the new clean technologies.

“We need to prepare for a redefinition of the most important stakes, and we need to adjust our strategy toward China based on how the Chinese Communist Party appears to be evolving,” he concluded.