Chinese President Xi Jinping touted close ties with Russia on the second day of his state visit to Moscow Tuesday, inviting Vladimir Putin to make a return visit later this year.
“It fits the historical logic that Chinese leaders take Russia as a primary choice for their overseas visits, Xi said, adding that China and Russia are each other’s biggest neighbor and comprehensive strategic partner,” the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was a major topic for the leaders in more than four hours of talks Monday, according to both sides, with Putin saying before the meeting that he’s ready to discuss China’s initiative for ending the war. Putin welcomed Xi to the Kremlin Tuesday afternoon for more discussions. Russian state television showed the two men walking the long red carpets of the Kremlin to shake hands before joining their delegations.
The U.S. and its allies have rejected China’s proposals as biased toward Russia, and Ukraine has been cool, as well. Xi is expected to speak to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the first time since the February 2022 invasion after his Russia visit.
Xi’s three-day visit, his first trip abroad since claiming a third term earlier this month, sends a strong signal of support for Putin amid efforts by the U.S. and its allies to isolate the Russian president over his invasion. Russia has become increasingly dependent on China for trade with other markets cut off, but there were few indications that this visit would bring new deals.
Putin and Xi “had an in-depth exchange of views on the Ukraine issue,” China’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. It added that “most countries support easing tensions,” but the ministry didn’t go into further details on the topic.
China would continue to strengthen strategic coordination with Russia, Xi also said, according to the statement.
Xi met in the morning Tuesday with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, who called for deepening economic ties and received his own invitation to visit China.
Later Tuesday, the two sides are expected to sign several declarations, and Xi and Putin will make press statements before a state dinner in the Tsarist-era Palace of Facets.
U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby dismissed the visit as “a marriage of convenience.”
“President Xi finds himself in this weird position — wanting the war to end but not wanting Russia to lose,” he said on MSNBC.
China’s cease-fire paper has little detail and largely consists of broader foreign policy positions long espoused by Beijing. While its embrace of the principle of territorial integrity won praise in Kyiv, which seeks to drive Russian forces back across the border, a cease-fire call that would freeze forces in current positions is a non-starter.
For Putin, Xi is by far the most significant international leader to visit since the invasion, which triggered Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II and waves of sanctions by the U.S. and its allies. Xi’s arrival comes just days after the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for Putin’s arrest on charges of war crimes. Russia has dismissed the move, and China called for the court to avoid politicization.
The Chinese leader last visited Russia in mid-2019, while Putin went to Beijing in early 2022 to attend the opening of the Winter Olympics. At that meeting the two leaders agreed to a “no-limits” friendship and signed a series of long-term energy supply deals.
The two met in September last year at a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, where Putin said he understands Beijing’s “questions and concerns” about his invasion of Ukraine, a rare admission of tensions between the diplomatic allies.
