Norway Urges China to Press Russia Into Ukraine Peace Talks
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- Norwegian PM Jonas Gahr Stoere urged China to use its ties to Russian leadership to broker peace in Ukraine, calling China "probably the country with the best and most direct access" to Moscow.
- Stoere linked potential deeper Europe-China cooperation to progress on the war, saying the conflict is "a limitation on that opportunity" as long as China remains a close partner of Russia.
- Norwegian FM Espen Barth Eide described Oslo's talks with China on ending the war as "constructive and promising," noting "hints" in what Chinese officials said but declining to quote them directly.
- Norwegian officials proposed unconditional negotiations beginning with a ceasefire along the current front line — a step Stoere acknowledged is "a major concession from Ukraine's side" since the territory is inside Ukraine.
- Chinese FM Wang Yi was visiting Norway after stops in Denmark, Sweden, and Finland, with Ukraine taking up the largest share of bilateral discussions, according to Stoere.
- President Donald Trump said the same day that a Ukraine resolution is "getting closer than people realize," and that he will raise the issue during talks in Turkey at a NATO summit this week.
Why it matters: Norway is explicitly dangling the prospect of deeper Europe-China economic cooperation as an incentive for Beijing to pressure Moscow — a diplomatic trade that positions China as a potential broker rather than mere bystander. The proposed ceasefire along current front lines, as Stoere conceded, demands territorial concessions from Kyiv, making this an opening gambit that tests both Ukraine's flexibility and China's willingness to act on its access to the Kremlin.
