Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Moscow on Monday for a state visit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, marking his first trip abroad since his re-election earlier in the month.
The two
leaders greeted each other warmly, calling one another “dear friend” and
meeting for informal talks that reportedly lasted nearly four and a half hours.
The visit is being seen as an opportunity for the two nations to deepen their
economic ties, and for China to establish itself as a potential mediator in the
ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
The timing
of Xi’s visit is significant, coming just days after an international arrest
warrant was issued for Putin on war crimes charges related to the conflict in
Ukraine. The move is widely viewed as a message to Western leaders that their
efforts to isolate Russia over the conflict have fallen short. The visit also
serves as a political boost for Putin, who is facing increasing pressure from
Western nations.
During their
meeting, Xi praised Putin’s leadership and predicted that Russians would
re-elect him next year. Putin, in turn, congratulated Xi on his re-election and
voiced hope for building even stronger ties expressing his admiration for
China’s economic and political system,
“China has
made a colossal leap ahead in its development in recent years,” Putin said,
adding that “it’s causing genuine interest all around the world, and we even
feel a bit envious,” he said.
Both leaders
described their relationship as a “no-limits friendship” and pledged to deepen
their cooperation in a number of areas, including space exploration, new
technologies, and nuclear power.
The conflict
in Ukraine was also a topic of discussion, with Xi promoting China’s role as a
potential mediator in the conflict. Putin welcomed China’s proposals for a
political settlement in Ukraine, and said that Russia was open to talks.
However, the two leaders reportedly do not see Ukrainian President Volodomyr
Zelenskyy as a leader of Ukraine, but rather as a puppet of America.
The visit is
also being seen as an opportunity for Russia and China to build a new trade
relationship that is not influenced by the sanctions imposed by the US and the
EU. Sergey Markov, director of the Institute of Political Studies in Moscow,
said that the main agenda of the meeting was setting up “infrastructure for an
economic relationship” rather than discussing the conflict in Ukraine.
As Western
pressure on Russia grows, Putin’s administration has reportedly told officials
to stop using Apple iPhones over concerns that the devices are vulnerable to
Western intelligence agencies. Meanwhile, justice ministers from around the
world met in London to discuss support for the International Criminal Court,
whose chief prosecutor has called on Russia to repatriate Ukrainian children
who were deported to Russia during its invasion of Ukraine.
In Brussels,
several European Union countries agreed to jointly buy 155 mm artillery shells
for Ukraine, which sees them as critical as both sides fire thousands of rounds
every day. Fierce fighting also 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.
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