Beijing will continue to make Russian-Chinese relations "a priority": Chinese President Xi Jinping said in Moscow.
China and Russia are "neighboring major powers" and "strategic partners", added Xi who invited Vladimir Putin for a visit to China this year
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'INTEREST IN CHINESE PEACE PLAN'
Strengthen "strategic interaction" with Russia, and at the same time accredit China as a credible mediator for the conflict in Ukraine.
These are the intentions declared by President Xi Jinping upon his arrival in Moscow for his eighth visit since 2013. Two objectives that are not easy to reconcile, especially in the eyes of a decidedly skeptical West about Beijing's real intentions.
Thus, while Kiev says it is following developments with interest, asking Xi to convince Russia to end the war, the White House invites the Ukrainians not to accept a possible ceasefire, which would "ratify" the territorial gains of the Russians and it would give them time to regroup.
Moscow, the meeting between Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping in the Kremlin
The issue of Ukraine is among the topics that Xi addressed with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the first meeting, an informal face-to-face in the Kremlin, before tomorrow's official talks extended to the delegations.
"We look with interest at your proposals to resolve the crisis in Ukraine," Putin said in front of the cameras, sitting side by side with his guest in front of a gold-decorated white marble fireplace.
"We are open to negotiations", he added, stressing however that any solution must take into account the principle of "indivis
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ability of security for all countries". It almost seems like a return to those proposals on European security put forward to NATO and the US in December 2021 which did not get the desired response from Moscow. Two months later the military operation in Ukraine was triggered. Few hours earlier, in an article published in the Russian government newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta, Xi had said that the 12-point Chinese plan brings together the "visions" of different countries, admitting that finding a synthesis "is not easy". with the West, the Chinese president did not distance himself from Putin's assessments, stating that China shares Russia's belief that it is necessary to build a multipolar world, because "no country is superior to the others,no model of government is universal, and no single country should dictate the international order."
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The US reaction was negative across the board.
The world must not be deceived by any tactical move by China-backed Russia, Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned, reiterating the importance of open lines of communication with Beijing.
"Xi and Biden will speak at the right time", added the White House, hoping that after the meeting with the tsar, the Chinese president should also speak with Zelensky "to get his point of view. The head of US diplomacy then stigmatizes the the fact that Xi confirmed his visit even after the arrest warrant for Putin from the International Criminal Court (ICC), thus demonstrating the belief that the Russian leader should not be held responsible for the atrocities in Ukraine. to which Moscow responded by opening a
criminal investigation against the prosecutor of the same CPI, Karim Khan, for his decision judged "illegal".
Putin shows confidence in China's support, with which, he stated in an article in the People's Daily, Russia fights against "common threats".
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Xi seemed to comfort him during the meeting in front of the fireplace in which he called him "dear friend" and called for "close relations" between the two countries, even going as far as an election commercial when he recalled the presidential elections scheduled in a year in Russia and at the same time underlined the "prosperity" guaranteed to the country by Putin.
But it remains unknown how far Beijing will be able to go in strengthening and expanding relations with the Kremlin without affecting its strong economic ties with the West.
If Putin underlined that trade between Russia and China has reached "185 billion dollars", it is also true that this remains a fraction of what the People's Republic has with both the EU and the US.
Meanwhile, Ukraine
Ukraine, Blinken: 'Don't be fooled by Russia-China proposals'
"The first and main clause" of a peace agreement must be "the surrender or withdrawal of the Russian occupation forces", underlined Secretary of the Security Council Oleksiy Danilov.
The position expressed by the spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, Oleg Nikolenko, is more diplomatic, in respect of his own role.
"Ukraine - he assured him - is closely following the visit of the Chinese president to Russia. We expect Beijing to use its influence over Moscow to make it end the war".
ANSA agency
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