China Backs Planned U.S.–Russia Talks on Ukraine War, Calls for Peaceful Resolution

China has welcomed the planned meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, expressing support for renewed diplomatic engagement aimed at resolving the war in Ukraine.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told reporters in Beijing on Friday that China “is glad to see Russia and the U.S. keep in contact, improve their relations, and advance the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis.”

Beijing, he added, “supports all efforts conducive to the peaceful settlement of the crisis,” which has continued for more than three years.

Trump announced on Thursday that he would meet with Putin in Hungary within the next two weeks, with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán expected to host the talks in Budapest. The U.S. president said Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov would meet next week to finalize details for the summit.

The announcement followed a phone conversation between Trump and Putin earlier that day, which Trump described as “very good.” He also noted that he would brief Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the discussion during their meeting at the White House on Friday.

“We have a problem. They don’t get along too well, those two,” Trump said, referring to Zelenskyy and Putin. “So, we may do something where we’re separate, but separate but equal.”

If held as planned, the Budapest meeting would be Trump and Putin’s second face-to-face encounter since their summit in Alaska in August.

The renewed dialogue comes amid ongoing U.S. pressure on China and India to reduce imports of Russian oil — a move Beijing has firmly resisted, warning it would respond with countermeasures if its national interests were affected.