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.
๐ซ๐ถ ๐ต๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐น๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐๐ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ผ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ผ๐น๐๐ฒ ๐จ๐ธ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ถ๐๐๐๐ฒ, ๐ฃ๐๐๐ถ๐ป ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ ๐ต๐ถ๐บ '๐ด๐ผ๐ผ๐ฑ ๐ผ๐น๐ฑ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ'
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."
๐ซ๐ถ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ณ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐๐'๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ ๐ฃ๐๐๐ถ๐ป
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.
๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐น ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐ฟ
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.
