Charles Michel

European leaders met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Thursday for talks dominated by divisions between the bloc and its largest economic partner over everything from trade to the war in Ukraine.

China said Wednesday European Union export policies towards Beijing do not "make sense", on the eve of a high-level summit in the Chinese capital.

European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen warned Tuesday, ahead of an annual EU-China summit, that Europe won't tolerate its soaring trade imbalance with China forever.

While the president of the European Commission stressed that EU states would prefer negotiations to a trade war she left an implied threat of protectionist measures on the table.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has called on European Union leaders to refrain from making decisions on initiating negotiations for Ukraine's membership and withholding financial aid at next week's summit in Brussels. Orban's plea comes amidst the European Commission's proposal to consider Kyiv's readiness for negotiations, contingent on further obligations by March 2024.

"We had important meetings. I spoke with Charles Michel and with the presidents of Hungary, Poland, Belarus, as well as with people from the IMF," Vui said, adding that all the conversations were of special importance for Serbia.
"In order to solve all the problems, there must be order in international relations," he added.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will meet on Tuesday with Chancellor Olaf Scholz, German deputy government spokeswoman Christiane Hoffmann announced on Friday. 

According to Hoffmann, the agenda of the meeting includes bilateral and European policy issues and issues related to security policy. The talks will be followed by a joint press conference. 

Day 624 of the invasion of Ukraine. Summary of key events in the last 24 hours:

BRUSSELS - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on Thursday continued a Brussels meeting with EU foreign policy and security chief Josep Borrell and the EU's special envoy for the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue Miroslav Lajcak after the first part of the meeting with European officials concluded shortly after 3 pm.

BRUSSELS - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic's meeting with European officials in Brussels concluded shortly after 3 pm on Thursday.

Previously, the European officials spoke with Pristina's PM Albin Kurti.

Immediately after the meeting, Kurti left without speaking to the media, a Tanjug reporter said.

Previously, European officials spoke with the Prime Minister of Pristina's temporary institutions, Aljbin Kurti, who left immediately after the meeting, without giving statements to journalists.