CHANGE OF PLAN

Biden and Macron Agree to Engage China to Help End War in Ukraine

The French president is heading to Beijing for talks with Xi Jinping.

President Biden and French leader Emmanuel Macron agreed in a phone call to engage China in helping to bring an end to the war in Ukraine, Macron’s office said in a statement Wednesday. “The two leaders have mentioned their joint willingness to engage China to accelerate the end of the war in Ukraine and take part in building sustainable peace in the region,” it read. The agreement comes as Macron travels to Beijing on Wednesday to hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping after Chinese diplomats proposed a peace plan to stop the war earlier this year—though the proposals were met with skepticism in the West. China’s Foreign Ministry said Xi’s talks with Macron would work towards bilateral relations between their respective nations.