Chinese President Xi Jinping will arrive in Moscow on Monday, in a three-day state visit focused on developing the strategic partnership between the two countries.
Xi’s visit comes at an opportune time for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Russia is under severe sanctions imposed by Western countries in response to the invasion of Ukraine.
China is one of the few countries that didn’t condemn the attack and is trying to mediate an end to the war, thus presenting itself as a useful partner to Russia.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the two leaders would hold an informal bilateral meeting on Monday, and formal talks between the two delegations are scheduled for Tuesday.
This is the first visit by a foreign leader to Russia since the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against Putin for war crimes in Ukraine.
Putin is accused of illegally deporting children from Ukraine to Russia.
Russia says the children have been moved from a war zone to a safe place.
It’s noteworthy that Russia doesn’t recognize the International Criminal Court, along with China and the United States, and several other countries, while more than 120 other countries have ratified the Rome Statute which established the Court.
China is seen as a close ally of Russia, it has largely adhered to the international sanctions imposed on Moscow to avoid becoming a target itself.
Beijing’s latest peace initiative, which called for a ceasefire but made no concrete demands for the withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukraine, has been met with skepticism in the West.
In the same context, Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Monday that Beijing’s proposal on how to reach a settlement in Ukraine reflects global views and contributes to avoiding the consequences of the crisis, but he acknowledged that solutions may not be easy.
China’s proposal, of the 12-point paper that issued last month, represented the greatest possible unity of views of the international community,” the Chinese President wrote in an article published in Russian at the Russian government’s daily Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper.
The document serves as a constructive factor in averting the consequences of the crisis and supporting the political settlement, and complex problems don’t have simple solutions.
Xi seeks to present China as a global peacemaker and a responsible great power.
In public, China has maintained neutrality in the Ukraine conflict, while criticizing Western sanctions against Russia and reaffirming its close ties with Moscow.
The United States and NATO recently said that China is considering supplying weapons to Russia, and warned Beijing against such a move, which china denies.
Xi wrote that a peaceful solution to the situation in Ukraine would also guarantee the stability of global production and supply chains.
He called for a rational approach to get out of the crisis, which can be reached if everyone is guided by the concept of collective, comprehensive, shared and sustainable security, and to continue dialogue and consultations with a kind of equality, wisdom and pragmatism.
Xi said his visit to Russia aims to enhance friendship between the two countries and comprehensive partnership and strategic interaction in a world threatened by acts of tyranny, oppression and bullying”.
“There’s no global model of government, and there is no world order in which one country has the final word… Global solidarity and peace without divisions and unrest is in the common interest of all mankind,” the Chinese President concluded his article.
