Russia-Ukraine War, Olympics, Europe In Focus As Macron, Xi Look To Build US-less World Order

France rolled out the reddest of red carpets as it welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping. There was bonhomie and banter as French President Emmanuel Macron sought to reset ties with China. Russia-Ukraine war, trade policies and Paris Olympics were some of the important topics discussed by the two leaders. French cognac also made its way into the conversation as Macron thanked Xi for not imposing custom duties on the drink and gifted him bottles of the same. France welcomed China’s “commitment” not to sell arms to Moscow and to control the flow of dual-use goods to the Russian army.