World should help Ukraine, Russia resume talks: Xi
President Xi Jinping on Monday called on the international community to help Ukraine and Russia resume dialogue in a bid to resolve their conflict. Xi and visiting Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban exchanged views on the Ukraine crisis in talks in Beijing. Orban briefed Xi on his recent visits to Ukraine and Russia. The president stressed an early ceasefire and a political settlement are in the interests of all parties. According to Xinhua News Agency, Xi called on the international community "to create conditions and provide support for the resumption of direct dialogue and negotiation between the two sides." Xinhua quoted him as saying that "only if all major countries inject positive rather than negative energy, can a ceasefire in this conflict emerge as soon as possible." Besides Russia and Ukraine, the end of the war “depends on the decision of three world powers, the United States, the European Union and China,” Orban wrote in a Facebook post showing him shaking hands with Xi. “Peace mission 3.0” is how Orban captioned a picture posted on the X social media platform depicting him after having stepped off his plane in Beijing earlier on Monday in this previously unannounced visit. Hungary assumed the rotating presidency of the EU at the start of July, and Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested Orban had come to Moscow as a top representative of the European Council. Several top European officials dismissed that suggestion and said Orban had no mandate for anything beyond a discussion about bilateral relations. Xi visited Hungary in May this year for the final leg of a European tour that also took him to France and Serbia. (Agencies)