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Hong Kong (CNN) --
As US President Joe Biden landed in Ukraine to meet his counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday, China's top diplomat was traveling in the opposite direction, en route to Russia.
Wang Yi, named Chinese leader Xi Jinping's top foreign policy adviser last month, is scheduled to arrive in Moscow this week as part of his eight-day European tour, a trip that highlights China's attempt to maintain diplomatic balance. since Russian tanks broke into the Ukraine a year ago.
The perspective of both trips - which take place a few days before the first anniversary of the brutal war on Friday - underlines the sharpening of the geopolitical fissures between the two world superpowers.
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As US-China relations continue to take a nosedive — most recently due to the fallout from a suspected Chinese spy balloon entering US airspace — China and Russia are closer than ever since their leaders declared a "no limits" friendship a year ago, fueled in part by their shared animosity toward the United States.
And as the United States and its allies reaffirm their support for Ukraine and increase military aid, Beijing's growing partnership with Moscow has set off alarm bells in Western capitals, despite China's public seduction offensive in Europe to present itself as a peace negotiator.
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At the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, Wang addressed a room of European officials as "dear friends" and trumpeted China's commitment to peace, while apparently trying to drive a wedge between Europe and the United States.
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"We are not adding fuel to the fire, and we are against profiting from this crisis," Wang said in a thinly veiled hint to the US, echoing the propaganda message that regularly appears on China's prime-time nightly news: that The US intentionally prolongs the war because its arms manufacturers make huge profits from arms sales.
"Some forces may not want peace talks to materialize. They do not care about the life or death of Ukrainians, or the harm to Europe. They may have greater strategic goals than Ukraine itself. This war must not continue." Wang said.
He urged European officials to reflect on "what framework should be in place to bring lasting peace to Europe, what role should Europe play in manifesting its strategic autonomy."
Wang also announced Beijing's plan to make public its proposal for a "political solution" to the Ukrainian crisis around the first anniversary.
But the vague mention of the proposal was met with suspicion by some Western leaders who keep a close eye on any support China gives its northern neighbor, especially assistance that could help Russia on the battlefield.
"We need more evidence that China is not working with Russia, and we are not seeing it now," European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen told CNN on Saturday.
Such suspicions are compounded by claims by US officials that Beijing is considering deepening its partnership with Moscow by providing the Russian military with "lethal support."
"We've been watching this very closely," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told "Face the Nation" on CBS in Munich on Sunday.
"The concern that we have now is based on the information that we have that they are considering providing lethal support, and we have made it very clear to them that that would cause a serious problem for us and our relationship," Blinken said.
Responding to the allegations on Monday, China's Foreign Ministry criticized the US for "shirking responsibility, shifting blame and spreading false information."
"It is the US side, not the Chinese, that supplies a constant stream of weapons to the battlefield. The US side is not qualified to lecture China, and we would never accept the US dictating or even putting pressure on relations. Sino-Russians," a ministry spokesman told a regular news briefing.
"Who calls for dialogue and peace? And who is handing out knives and fomenting confrontation? The international community sees it clearly," the spokesman said.
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US authorities have been concerned enough about the information to share it with their allies and partners in Munich, according to CNN.
In a meeting with Wang on the sidelines of the conference on Saturday, Blinken also raised the issue and warned Wang of its "implications and consequences," according to a US statement.
The US accusations, if true, would mark a major escalation in China's support for Russia and usher in a dangerous and unpredictable new phase in the war itself.
Previously, Beijing had carefully avoided actions that could trigger secondary sanctions, which would deal a devastating blow to an economy weighed down by three years of costly zero-vovid policy.
Although Beijing declared itself impartial in the conflict and without prior knowledge of Russia's intentions, it has refused to condemn Moscow and parroted the Kremlin's statements blaming NATO for provoking the conflict.
And while Beijing's pro-Russian rhetoric appears to have softened in recent months, its support for Moscow — measured in terms of annual trade, diplomatic commitments and the schedule of joint military exercises — has risen in the past year.
Chinese officials have often calibrated their speech based on the audience.
Wang may have made many attractive promises during his tour of Europe, but whether they will translate into a coherent message to deliver to Russian leader Vladimir Putin when the two meet in the Kremlin this week is another question.
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