Wang Yi visits Norway, Norwegian prime minister urges China to help promote Russia-Ukraine negotiations

Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who is visiting Europe, met separately with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre in Oslo on Monday (the 6th), and held talks with Norway’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Espen Barth Eide. After the talks, Støre said in an interview that China could be the most direct and effective country for communicating with the Russian leadership, adding that he hopes for and strongly urges China to make good use of this channel.

According to Reuters, Støre said the two sides’ discussions focused largely on the Ukraine issue. He said there is potential to deepen cooperation between Europe and China, but as long as the war continues and as long as China remains a close partner of Russia, such opportunities will be constrained.

Eide said that the dialogue with China on bringing the Russia-Ukraine war to an end was “constructive and hopeful.” When asked whether China has indicated it will push Russia back to the negotiating table, he said, “I am not China’s spokesperson, so I won’t quote their words, but there are indeed some hints in their remarks.”

Norwegian foreign minister says positions are close to China on multiple hot-button topics

According to a notice on the official website of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, during his talks with Eide, Wang Yi pointed out that Norway is one of the first Western countries to recognize the “new China.” Political mutual trust between the two countries has continued to grow, and mutually beneficial cooperation has been expanding in depth, as well as toward a greener and more innovative direction. He said the China-Norway Green Transformation Dialogue mechanism has become an important platform for cooperation between the two countries. He proposed that both sides should increase the level of bilateral trade, sign the China-Norway free trade agreement as soon as possible, and deepen cooperation in areas such as clean energy, electric vehicles, green shipping, and the circular economy, with a focus on promoting the Green Transformation Dialogue mechanism to land and be implemented.

China cited Eide’s response, saying that Norway firmly adheres to the One-China policy and is willing to strengthen exchanges with China at the leadership level and dialogues at all levels, promote pragmatic cooperation in areas including trade, the green economy, and the oceans, and emphasized that Norway has consistently supported free trade and opposes the securitization of economic issues.

He also said that Norway and China hold close positions on many international and regional hot-button issues. Norway attaches importance to China’s significant influence in international affairs and is willing to strengthen communication and cooperation with China, safeguard the central role of the United Nations, uphold the basic norms governing international relations, actively respond to global challenges such as climate change, and jointly care for the only planet where humanity lives.

The two sides also exchanged in-depth views on international and regional issues including the Ukraine crisis and the situation in the Middle East.

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