Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed Chinese leader Xi Jinping to the Kremlin on March 20, 2023, in a visit that sent a powerful message to Western leaders allied with Ukraine that their efforts to isolate Moscow have fallen short.
As he greeted Mr. Xi, Mr. Putin also said he welcomed his plan for “settlement of the acute crisis in Ukraine.” Mr. Xi's visit showed off Beijing's new diplomatic swagger and gave a political lift to Mr. Putin just days after an international arrest warrant was issued for the Kremlin leader on war crimes charges related to Ukraine.
The two major powers have described Mr. Xi's three-day trip as an opportunity to deepen their “no-limits friendship.”
China looks to Russia as a source of oil and gas for its energy-hungry economy, and as a partner in standing up to what both see as U.S. domination of global affairs. The two countries, which are among the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, also have held joint military drills.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that over dinner on March 20, Mr. Putin and Mr. Xi will likely include a “detailed explanation” of Moscow's actions in Ukraine.
Broader talks involving officials from both countries on a range of subjects are scheduled for Tuesday, Mr. Peskov said.
For Mr. Putin, Mr. Xi's presence is a prestigious, diplomatic triumph amid Western efforts to isolate Russia after its invasion of Ukraine.
In an article published in the Chinese People's Daily newspaper, Mr. Putin described Xi's visit as a “landmark event” that “reaffirms the special nature of the Russia-China partnership.” Mr. Putin also specifically said the meeting sent a message to Washington that the two countries aren't prepared to accept attempts to weaken them.
“The U.S. policy of simultaneously deterring Russia and China, as well as all those who do not bend to the American diktat, is getting ever fiercer and more aggressive,” he wrote.
Mr. Xi's trip came after the International Criminal Court in The Hague announced Friday it wants to put Mr. Putin on trial for the abductions of thousands of children from Ukraine.
China portrays Mr. Xi's visit as part of normal diplomatic exchanges and has offered little detail about what the trip aims to accomplish, though the nearly 13 months of war in Ukraine cast a long shadow on the talks.
At a daily briefing in Beijing on Monday, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said Xi's trip was a “journey of friendship, cooperation and peace.” On the war, Wang said: “China will uphold its objective and fair position on the Ukrainian crisis and play a constructive role in promoting peace talks.”
Beijing's leap into Ukraine issues follows its recent success in brokering talks between Iran and its chief Middle Eastern rival, Saudi Arabia, which agreed to restore their diplomatic ties after years of tensions.
Following that success, Mr. Xi called for China to play a bigger role in managing global affairs.
“President Xi will have an in-depth exchange of views with President Putin on bilateral relations and major international and regional issues of common concern,” Wang said.
He added that Mr. Xi aims to “promote strategic coordination and practical cooperation between the two countries and inject new impetus into the development of bilateral relations.” Although they boast of a “no-limits” partnership, Beijing has conducted a China First policy. It has shrunk from supplying Russia's war machine — a move that could worsen relations with Washington and turn important European trade partners against Beijing.
On the other hand, it has refused to condemn Moscow's aggression and has censured Western sanctions against Moscow, while accusing NATO and the United States of provoking Putin's military action.
China last month called for a cease-fire and peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy cautiously welcomed Beijing's involvement, but the overture fizzled.
The Kremlin has welcomed China's peace plan and said Mr. Putin and Mr. Xi would discuss it.
Washington strongly rejected Beijing's call for a ceasefire as the effective ratification of the Kremlin's battlefield gains.
Kyiv officials say they won't bend in their terms for a peace accord.
“The first and main point is the capitulation or withdrawal of the Russian occupation troops from the territory of Ukraine in accordance with the norms of international law and the UN Charter,” Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, tweeted on Monday.
That means restoring “sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity,” he wrote.
The Kremlin doesn't recognize the authority of the International Criminal Court and has rejected its move against Putin as “legally null and void.” China, the U.S. and Ukraine also don't recognize the ICC, but the court's announcement tarnished Putin's international standing.
China's Foreign Ministry called on the ICC to “respect the jurisdictional immunity” of a head of state and “avoid politicisation and double standards.” Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of Russia's Security Council, said the ICC's move will have “monstrous consequences” for international law.
“A gloomy sunset of the entire system of international relations is coming, trust is exhausted,” Medvedev wrote on his messaging app channel. He argued that in the past, the ICC has destroyed its credibility by failing to prosecute what he called U.S. war crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq.
He also cautioned that the court in The Hague could be a target for a Russian missile strike. Medvedev has in the past made bombastic statements and claims.
Russia's Investigative Committee said Monday it is opening a criminal case against a prosecutor and three judges of the ICC over the arrest warrants they issued for Putin and his commissioner for children's rights, Maria Lvova-Belova.
The committee called the ICC's prosecution “unlawful” because it was, among other things, a “criminal prosecution of a knowingly innocent person.”
Kyiv Cautious
Kyiv, which says the war cannot end until Russia pulls out its troops, has been circumspect towards China, cautiously welcoming Beijing’s peace proposal when it was unveiled last month even though Western allies were publicly sceptical.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said that China arming Russia could lead to World War Three, but also that he believed Beijing was aware of this risk, implying he thought it was unlikely. He has called for Xi to speak to him.
Putin signed a “no limits” partnership with Xi last year shortly before the Kremlin leader ordered the invasion of Ukraine. Putin claims he aims to end a threat to Russia from its neighbour’s moves towards the West; Kyiv and the West call it an unprovoked attack on an independent state.
Russia’s assault is believed to have killed tens of thousands of Ukrainian civilians and soldiers on both sides. Moscow has destroyed Ukrainian cities, set millions of people to flight and claims to have annexed nearly a fifth of Ukraine.
The Kremlin said Putin would provide Xi with detailed “clarifications” of Russia’s position, without elaborating.
Several European Union countries agreed in Brussels on Monday to jointly buy 1 million rounds of 155 mm artillery shells for Ukraine. Both sides fire thousands of rounds per day.
The United States announced its latest military aid package, worth $350 million, including more ammunition for HIMARS rocket launchers, howitzers and Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles, plus HARM missiles, anti-tank weapons and river boats.
Fierce fighting continued in the eastern Ukrainian town of Bakhmut, where Ukrainian forces have held out since last summer in the longest and bloodiest battle of the war.
Moscow, which has not scored a major victory since August, has launched a massive winter offensive involving hundreds of thousands of freshly called-up reservists and convicts recruited from jails.
Fighting that both sides describe as a meat grinder has scattered the battlefield with bodies, but the front line has barely moved for more than four months.
Ukraine, which recaptured swathes of territory in the second half of 2022, has kept mainly to defence since November, aiming to deplete Russia’s attacking forces before launching a planned counteroffensive of its own.
