Trump hopes China will help end war with Russia

Donald Trump has said he would like China’s help in dealing with Russia as he seeks 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 may be wishful thinking. China is Russia’s biggest ally and a vital support for Moscow after Western sanctions were imposed over its war in Ukraine.

Trump’s comments come after a difficult week for the Kyiv-U.S refused to provide him with Tomahawk cruise missilesEU leaders did not release frozen Russian cash to help fund his defense and had more lethal strikes.

Ending the Russia-Ukraine war has become a focal point for Trump in recent months, with a ceasefire agreement so far eluding him despite campaign promises to resolve the situation quickly. A summit with Putin in August failed to produce tangible results, and Trump has grown increasingly frustrated with Moscow.

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

On Wednesday, he announced new sanctions against the two largest oil companies in Russia – the first direct interventions the Trump administration has imposed on Russia in relation to the war. What effect the blacklist will have in the long term remains to be seen, but the Kremlin has said it is “immunized” against sanctions.

While Trump’s meeting with Xi on Thursday is still expected to focus on the hostile trade relationship between the US and ChinaTrump said he would talk to Xi about “everything,” 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 an end to the war.

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

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

Putin and Xi have previously touted the relationship between their countries as “friendship without borders” and Russia hopes gas exports to China and other countries will replace revenue lost since the imposition of Western sanctions.

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 for an extraordinary show of solidarity and military power.

As Trump made his comments about Air Force One, emergency crews in Ukraine were at the scene of more Russian strikes, including some in Kiev, where several people were killed, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

“No country should be left alone in the face of such evil,” he wrote on Telegram, reiterating the need for Ukraine’s allies to increase their support.

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