German Chancellor and China President meet in Rio de Janeiro

Russian invasion of Ukraine was the subject of discussion between German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Chinese President Xi Jinping when they met in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday on the sidelines of G-20 Summit.

The two leaders maintained that it was important for two economic powers to “discuss difficult topics”, according to reports of news organisations.

"It is important for us to talk about major problems and challenges. Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, for example, or dangerous situations we see elsewhere in the world," said Scholz, as reported by global news agency Reuters. He further said: "No one should have to fear their neighbours.”

China is a close ally of Russia and stands by Russia in the war against Ukraine. On the other hand, major economic power Germany, unlike other European nations, wants to maintain cordial trade exchange with China because of its huge luxury car market in China. When the European Commission wanted to impose tariff on Chinese electronic vehicle imports upto 45%, Germany had voted against it fearing a Chinese reaction. Responding to it, China instead of imposing heavy tariff on Chinese cars in China, had imposed heavy restriction on French brandy.

During the meet, Scholz stressed Germany's interest in economic cooperation with China.