The French president received the Chinese leader at a remote mountain pass in the Pyrenees. In an unusual setting for a diplomatic visit, Macron and Xi had lunch at the L'Étape du Berger restaurant at an altitude of 2,150 meters. Earlier, Xi Jinping visited Paris, where the talks focused on trade disputes and Russian aggression in Ukraine. This was reported by Euronews and ABC, according to UNN.
Details
French President Emmanuel Macron has invited Chinese President Xi Jinping to the Tourmalet Pass near the border with Spain, where Macron spent time as a child visiting his grandmother. The invitation was made as a reciprocal gesture after Xi Jinping took Macron to the residence of the governor of Guangdong province, where the Chinese leader's father once lived, last year.
Macron and Xi - along with their wives Brigitte Macron and Peng Liyuan - visited a mountain restaurant. Before lunch, protected from the elements by umbrellas, they watched a traditional folk dance performance on the terrace. The leaders could be seen eating ham and blueberry pie among other local specialties.
This corner of the mountain, "directly related to a very personal story" of Emmanuel Macron, was intended to break the imposing protocol that surrounds the slightest movement of the Chinese leader, the media write. But above all, it was to allow for "fruitful and friendly discussions," particularly on the key issue of Russia's war in Ukraine. So far, the Chinese president has remained the main ally of his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. As Euronews reminds us, the day before, Xi Jinping visited Paris and trade issues dominated his talks with the French president. They also discussed Russia's war in Ukraine.
Recall
The French president congratulated China on its commitment not to sell arms or provide assistance to Russia. He also emphasized the importance of controlling the export of goods to a terrorist country that could be used for military purposes.