The White House press service announced that the US National Security Advisor to the President of the United States, Jake Sullivan, and Director of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission General Office of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, member of the Politburo, Yang Jiechi, would meet on 14 March in Rome.
“The parties will discuss ongoing efforts to resolve competition between our two countries and discuss the impact of Russia's war against Ukraine on regional and global security," the statement said.
Sullivan is also scheduled to meet with the Italian Prime Minister's diplomatic adviser Luigi Mattiolo "to continue coordinating the powerful, unified international response to President Putin's war."
Earlier, well-known financier George Soros said that Russia's attack on Ukraine was preceded by a lengthy meeting between Russian President Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping. The Chinese leader gave Putin carte blanche to invade Ukraine.
China has traditionally taken a moderately pro-Russian stance, including not supporting sanctions imposed on Russia. On 10 March, China, for the first time, called thea full-scale Russian invasion a war. Before that, the country's officials used "military operation."
"We hope that the hostilities and the war will end as soon as possible," Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian during a video conference. He urged Ukraine and Russia to "take more measures to prevent escalation".
The United States is trying to influence China to use its influence on Russia to persuade it to de-escalate the conflict.