RUSSIA/CHINA: Ahead of the state visit by the Chinese President, ties with Vladimir Putin’s “good old friend” would lead to an opportunity for global recognition for Moscow. On Monday, the two leaders would meet in person and then have an informal lunch, as per Putin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov. China would play a “constructive role” in handling the Ukrainian war, which in turn has been asserted by Putin. Xi says his trip to Russia would create “an all-encompassing partnership and strategic interaction.”
This visit comes in light of Russia’s solid dependence on China, with Xi holding a lot of power to influence the war.
Russia has been having extremely optimistic views about the Chinese President’s visit, as Putin mentioned in an article, “We are grateful for the balanced line of [China] in connection with the events taking place in Ukraine, for understanding their background and true causes. We welcome China’s willingness to play a constructive role in resolving the crisis.”
Xi then wrote an article that was published in a Russian newspaper. In it, he said that he had asked Ukraine to be “pragmatic” in some way. A 12-point paper given out by China—a proposal that was disregarded last month by the west highlights “as much as possible the unity of the world community’s views”.
“There is no universal model of government, and there is no world order where the decisive word belongs to a single country,” Xi added.
“Xi’s visit in Moscow is very important, as iterated by analysts too, as China is by far the most important ally for Russia,” said Alexander Gabuev, an expert on Russian relations with China at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He added, “That Xi, the leader of the second most powerful country in the world, is ready to visit Moscow during the war in Ukraine is hugely symbolic.”
He also said that China’s power would have a big effect on all parts of the war since Russia’s economy depends on Beijing. Gabuev says, “For Russia, it will be very important to discuss increased oil and gas sales and the continued flow of critical components.”
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