Chinese President Xi Jinping touched down in Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, just three days after Mr Putin was accused by an international tribunal of war crimes in Ukraine.
Mr Xi will be the first leader to shake Mr Putin's hand since the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for the Russian leader on Friday over the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia since the start of the war.
It also comes on the heels of Mr Putin's surprise visit to occupied Mariupol.
This is Mr Xi's first overseas visit since securing a historic third term as Communist Party Chief this month.
The pair are expected to meet for lunch on Monday, and Kremlin officials say they will sign multiple agreements during the three-day visit.
China's government said the trip would further deepen mutual trust, while a Kremlin adviser said Russia's security chief would be part of the meetings.
Some European leaders have urged Mr Xi to pressure Vladimir Putin for a ceasefire, while Australia and the United States have warned China against supplying Moscow with weapons.
Powerful allies
China has never condemned Mr Putin and has refrained from using the term "invasion" to describe the Russian leader's war in Ukraine.
Both countries are part of BRICS — a group of the world's leading emerging market economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
Neither Moscow nor Beijing is a member of the ICC, whose action the Kremlin said was outrageous but legally void.
However, by making Mr Putin a wanted man in 123 countries virtually on the eve of Mr Xi's trip, the court has shone an awkward spotlight on a meeting that was already delicate for the Chinese leader.
With Russian forces struggling in Ukraine, Beijing faces a choice it had hoped to avoid, according to Jonathan Eyal of the Royal United Services Institute, a London think-tank.
"Either they do nothing and risk seeing Russia humiliated in Ukraine, which is not in China's interest. Or they come to Russia's aid and risk a much-bigger deterioration in their relationship with the United States and other Western countries," he said.
China's 'constructive role' in crisis
Mr Xi has been seeking to present China as a global peacemaker and project it as a responsible great power.
In an article for a Chinese newspaper, published on the Kremlin website late on Sunday, local time, Mr Putin said he had high hopes for the visit by his "good, old friend" Mr Xi, with whom he signed a "no-limits" strategic partnership last year.
He also welcomed China's willingness to mediate in the conflict.
"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," Mr Putin said.
China last month published a 12-point paper calling for dialogue and a settlement in Ukraine, but it contained only general statements and no concrete proposal for how the year-long war might end.
In an article in Rossiiskaya Gazeta — a daily published by the Russian government — Mr Xi defended that proposal but acknowledged solutions were not easy.
It represents "as much as possible the unity of the world community's views", Mr Xi said.
"The document serves as a constructive factor in neutralising the consequences of the crisis and promoting a political settlement.
"Complex problems do not have simple solutions."
Ukraine cautiously welcomed the Chinese proposal but said any settlement would require Russia to withdraw from all the territory it has seized, including the Crimean peninsula it annexed in 2014.
The United States has reacted with extreme scepticism to China's involvement, given its refusal to condemn Russia's invasion.
White House spokesperson John Kirby told Fox News on Sunday, local time, that any call by Mr Putin and Mr Xi for a ceasefire now would be unacceptable because it would just "ratify Russia's conquest to date".
"All that's going to do is give Mr Putin more time to re-fit, re-train, re-man, and try for renewed offensives at a time of his choosing," he said.
Ukraine's leader, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, was hopeful of finally having a call with the Chinese leader soon, as the two leaders have not spoken since the war began.
Reuters/ABC
