Germany said Monday that China has “a responsibility for global peace” after Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul discussed Russia’s war against Ukraine with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.

The call came at a time of growing worries in the West about ties between China and Russia, which have drawn closer since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

“Russia’s war in Ukraine affects core European interests,” the foreign ministry said in a message on X after Wadephul’s first phone call with Wang since taking up his post.

(COMBO) This combination of pictures created on March 18, 2025 shows President Donald Trump (L) on the phone on January 28, 2017 in Washington, and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin (R) on the phone Moscow on December 27, 2023. (Photo by Drew ANGERER and Gavriil GRIGOROV / various sources / AFP)

The call also came as efforts intensify for a ceasefire in the more than three-year-old conflict, with US President Donald Trump set to speak by phone with Russia’s Vladimir Putin on Monday.

Last week Chancellor Friedrich Merz, in his first major speech to parliament since taking office, said Germany was worried about closer ties between Beijing and Moscow and would press China to ensure it “contributes to resolving the war in Ukraine”.

Germany and China have long had close relations, particularly on the economic front, and the foreign ministry insisted Monday that bilateral relations remained “important”.

However Merz has also stressed that his government will continue the policy of “de-risking” — or seeking to reduce its heavy economic dependence — when it comes to economic ties with Beijing.