Online summit of EU, Chinese leaders discussing Ukraine

The leaders of the European Union and China have begun an online summit on Friday, in which Brussels will try to influence Beijing to reconsider relations with Moscow.

Report informs citing TASS that the opening moment of the summit was shown online by the press service of the European Commission. No public statements have been made.

China is represented at the summit by Chinese President Xi Jinping and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, while the European Union is represented by European Council and European Commission Presidents Charles Michel and Ursula von der Leyen, as well as EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell.

The summit is expected to last about three hours, after which EU leaders will hold a presser.

At a briefing before the summit, a high-ranking European source told reporters that the situation in Ukraine is "a million-dollar issue that will be discussed".

As the representative of the EU said, Michel and von der Leyen will try to convince Beijing not to help Moscow bypass the sanctions imposed against the Russian Federation and not to provide military support.