As Europe stepped up its campaign to lobby China to mediate on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Chinese President Xi Jinping has joined a video summit with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. During the March 8, 2022, meeting, Xi warned that sanctions on Moscow could “drag down” the global economy, reiterating Beijing’s opposition to such measures as the global response to the invasion made Russia the world’s most-sanctioned nation, surging past Iran.