Xi Jinping’s visit to Moscow to meet his “friend” Vladimir Putin has not been just a summit meeting in carpeted palatial offices. There have also been gestures and messages. With the former, the Russian president has shown the guest respect for him, some admiration and above all the need for his support at a time when Western sanctions try to isolate Russia. Among the messages, the most hotly topical: Putin accepts China’s peace plan for Ukraine. But whether it can be applied depends on the West and on Kyiv, he remarked.
After the informal day on Monday, on his second day in Moscow, Xi was solemnly received by Putin in the St. George Hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace.
The Chinese president ascended to the second floor by a carpeted staircase flanked by an honor guard, the same one that received him on Monday at the Vnukovo-2 airport.
While a Russian state television camera followed the steps of the Chinese leader, another showed Putin going to the center of the great hall to receive his guest with a strong handshake. Under the flags of Russia and China, the national anthems sounded. Everything was ready to begin the most formal part of this summit in the Russian capital.
China is a friend that until a few years ago caused some fear, since in Moscow it was feared that in a possible alliance, Russia would always be dependent on the economic potential of its Asian neighbor. Perhaps due to circumstances, he is now an object of admiration. On Monday, during the round of mutual praise, Putin confessed to Xi some envy for the development achieved. This potential has served in the last year for China to become a safe market for oil and gas that the countries of the European Union have stopped buying. “Russian-Chinese cooperation has truly unlimited possibilities and prospects,” Putin said.
From Beijing also comes the latest attempt to achieve a peaceful solution to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
The Chinese proposal, presented last month in the form of 12 points, “can be taken as the basis for a peaceful settlement,” the Russian president said in remarks he offered at the end of the talks, in the Malachite room, where they also met. Several cooperation agreements were signed between Moscow and Beijing.
At his side, Xi said that his country maintains an “objective and impartial” position on the Ukrainian crisis, guided by the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter. The Chinese president said his country “advocates peace and dialogue”, broken in the spring of 2022, when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan mediated between Russia and Ukraine.
According to Putin, many of the provisions of the plan presented by Beijing “are in line with Russian approaches.” But he noted that “it will serve as the basis for a solution when the West and Kyiv are ready for it, although at the moment we do not see such willingness on their part.”
In its peace plan, China defends Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity, the cessation of hostilities and the resumption of peace negotiations. But he also advocates taking Russia’s security concerns into account in the face of NATO’s advance near its borders.
Russia and China call for “an end to all steps that contribute to the escalation of tension and the prolongation of hostilities,” both countries said in a joint statement. Russia demands that the United States and European countries stop sending weapons to Ukraine. China has been against the sanctions outside the UN.
In the same statement, they say that a nuclear war, in which “there can be no victor”, must “never” take place.
Although Ukraine has avoided criticizing China, its president, Volodimir Zelensky, considers the initiative unrealizable, since it does not include the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukrainian territory.
But Kyiv does not want to lose the opportunity to convince Beijing. On Monday he called on Xi to use his influence to force Russia to end its “aggressive war.” In addition, Zelensky hopes to speak via video conference with Xi Jinping, which could take place after the Chinese leader bids farewell to Moscow today.
