Chinese and Russian leaders discuss Middle East conflict on Thursday afternoon
In a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for an end to the fighting between Israel and Iran, urging the countries, “especially Israel”, to cease fire to prevent the situation from escalating and avoid a spillover of the conflict.
“The situation in the Middle East is very critical. It once again proves that the world has entered a new period of turbulence and change,” Xi told Putin, according to a statement from China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“If the conflict escalates further, not only will the conflicting parties suffer greater losses, but regional countries will also suffer greatly,” Xi said.
Putin said Russia was willing to maintain close communication with China and would work with Beijing on efforts to cool the situation and maintain regional peace and stability.
