U.S. President Donald Trump personally asked his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, to use Beijing’s influence over Moscow to end the war in Ukraine, according to sources cited by the South China Morning Post.
According to sources familiar with the negotiations that took place during the summit between the two leaders in May in Beijing, Trump told Xi that negotiations between Russia and Ukraine have stalled and called on China to convince Russian President Vladimir Putin to return to the negotiating table with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the Hong Kong newspaper reported.
The request reflects Washington’s need to involve Beijing in efforts to resolve a conflict that has entered its fifth year and that Trump has placed at the center of his foreign policy agenda since returning to the White House.
The war was one of the topics discussed during the summit, although trade and investment dominated the talks. Issues such as Taiwan and Iran also received more attention than Ukraine in the discussions between the two leaders, according to the same sources.
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Trump publicly confirmed that the conflict was discussed during the meetings, but limited himself to stating that it is an issue the United States would like to see resolved.
The fact sheet released by the White House after the summit made no reference to the war, while the Chinese statement merely noted that Xi and Trump exchanged views on the crisis in Ukraine and other international issues.
Beijing has deepened its ties with Moscow since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, becoming a key source of economic and diplomatic support for Russia.
China has never publicly condemned the invasion and has rejected Western accusations that it helps sustain Russia’s war effort by supplying dual-use goods, insisting that it strictly controls exports and that trade with Moscow proceeds as normal.
A few days after Trump’s departure from Beijing, Xi welcomed Vladimir Putin to the Chinese capital. On that occasion, the two countries signed a joint statement in which Russia expressed support for China’s desire to play a “constructive role” in resolving the Ukrainian crisis through political and diplomatic channels.
Sources also indicated that Chinese exports of rare earths were a key topic during the summit. Washington remains dissatisfied with the controls imposed by Beijing on the export of these strategic minerals, which are essential for the production of semiconductors and defense systems.
Further negotiations are expected between Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, according to the same sources.
Last year, China imposed broad restrictions on rare earth exports, later suspending some of those measures as part of the trade truce reached by Trump and Xi during their meeting in October in Busan, South Korea.
Beijing has committed to addressing U.S. concerns regarding disruptions in the supply chains for rare earths and other critical minerals, according to a document released by the White House in May.
