Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit Moscow next week where he will hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, officials say.
The Kremlin said they would discuss “comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation”.
The visit comes as Russia’s ally Beijing has made proposals to end the war in Ukraine that have been warmly welcomed by the West.
Western countries have warned Beijing against supplying Moscow with weapons.
This will be President Xi Jinping’s first visit to Russia since the invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops. He is due to have lunch with Mr Putin on Monday, followed by talks on Tuesday.
A Foreign Ministry spokesman said China would maintain an “objective and fair stance” on the war in Ukraine and “play a constructive role in promoting peace talks”.
A spokesman for British Prime Minister Rishi Singh said that China would be welcomed to play a real role in restoring Ukraine’s sovereignty.
The fact that the Chinese leader is visiting Russia is a sign of Beijing’s strong support for Moscow. No wonder: Mr. Putin and Mr. Xi share a similar worldview, both embracing the idea of a multipolar world.
Last year, the two men announced that there was no limit to their partnership. This is not strictly true.
So far, China has not provided lethal aid to Russia to help it win the war in Ukraine, although the United States claims that China is considering doing so.
As for the announced partnership between Moscow and Beijing, Russia – whose economy is 10 times the size of China’s – increasingly finds itself in the role of junior partner.
So the Chinese government definitely has some leverage over Russia. Other elements of interest in the visit are Beijing’s claim to neutrality and the fact that it has not resisted speculation that it could act as an honest broker between Moscow and Kiev.
Crucially, China is coming off the back of a major diplomatic coup, which has facilitated a deal for Middle Eastern rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore diplomatic ties.
Some, however, argue that its stated neutrality is a sham and that it is in Beijing’s geopolitical interests to continue the war because Russia is doing its dirty work – antagonizing the West and eating up Western resources and money.
China’s proposals emphasize peace talks and respect for national sovereignty. But the 12-point document did not specifically say that Russia should withdraw its troops from Ukraine.
In February, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he wanted to meet with Mr Xi – “I really want to believe that China will not supply weapons to Russia,” he said.
Some US media have reported that Mr Xi and Mr Zelensky will speak by phone after the Chinese leader’s visit to Moscow, but this has yet to be confirmed.
Kaif is pushing hard for some sort of engagement. Ukraine believes President Xi is making the visit to signal to the world that Russia has at least some allies.
President Xi’s visit was announced, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kubyla said: “I don’t think China has reached the point where it wants to, when it wants to arm Russia. Ready for. The visit will result in peace… The visit to Moscow is a message in itself but I don’t think it will have any immediate results.
Mr Koliba said the message was that “China and Russia are very close, the Chinese leader is close enough to meet his Russian counterpart, who is not doing very well.
“And I think it’s a message to the whole world, to the West but most importantly, to the non-West, that Russia is not alone, that China is talking to them.”
The US wants to keep in touch with Mr. Eleven and Mr. Zielinski. A spokesman for the US National Security Council said “it would be great if the two of them would talk”.
On Thursday, China’s foreign minister urged Kiev and Moscow to resume peace talks as soon as possible during a phone call with Mr Koliba, after which the two discussed “the importance of the principle of territorial integrity”. What did
