Trump hopes China will help push Russia towards Ukraine peace talks

Donald Trump has said he would like China’s help to deal with Russia as he seeks to bring an end to the war in Ukraine.

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

It could be wishful thinking, however. China is Russia’s biggest ally, and a vital support to Moscow since Western sanctions were imposed over its war in Ukraine.

Trump’s comments come off the back of a difficult week for Kyiv – the US refused to give it Tomahawk cruise missiles, EU leaders did not release frozen Russian cash to help fund its defence, and there have been more deadly strikes.

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

“Every time I speak 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 Russia’s two biggest oil companies – the first direct interventions the Trump administration has imposed on Russia over the war. What effect the blacklisting will have in the long-term is yet to be seen, but the Kremlin said it was “immune” to the sanctions.

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

“I’d like to see China help us out [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 that the Chinese president “can have a big influence on Putin”.

Beijing has never criticised 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 supply of dual-use materials (those with both commercial and military applications).

Putin and Xi have previously touted their countries’ relationship as a “friendship with no limits”, and Russia hopes gas exports to China and other countries will replace the revenue 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 for an extraordinary show of solidarity and military might.

As Trump made his comments on Air Force One, emergency crews in Ukraine were at the scene of more Russian strikes, including some in Kyiv 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 step-up 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.