Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Moscow on Monday for a three day visit to hold meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin. This marks the first instance of China's leader visiting his neighbouring and closely aligned strategic partner since Russia initiated its invasion of Ukraine.
𝗫𝗶 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲 𝗨𝗸𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗶𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲, 𝗣𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗻 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝗵𝗶𝗺 '𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱'
On Monday, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin published different articles outlining their perspectives on the relationship between their countries, commending each other in the process. Xi stated that China's proposal to resolve the Ukraine crisis is in line with worldwide opinions, while Putin expressed great expectations for the visit by his "good old friend."
𝗫𝗶 𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗜𝗖𝗖'𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁 𝗣𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗻
Xi's arrival occurs only a few days following the International Criminal Court's accusation against Putin of committing war crimes in Ukraine. The ICC also issued an arrest warrant against the Russian President for the same.
𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗮 𝗲𝘆𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝗮𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝘂𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿
As China strives to position itself as an unbiased mediator to broker peace in the Russia-Ukraine crisis, Western capitals remain skeptical due to the strengthening ties between Beijing and Moscow. The high-level visit to Russia is an attempt to bolster its image as a neutral party, but its efficacy is being questioned by Western nations.
Notably, last year during the Winter Olympics' opening ceremony, Putin visited Beijing, and both leaders proclaimed a bond of boundless friendship.
Few weeks later, Ukrainian territories were invaded by Russian tanks. China, however, has failed to condemn Russia's invasion, instead attributing the conflict to NATO's provocative actions and echoing the Kremlin's position. In addition, China has backed Russia diplomatically and enhanced its economic and military relations with its northern ally.
