China's Xi to visit Russia on first visit since Ukraine invasion

China's Xi to visit Russia on first visit since Ukraine invasion
By Jing Xuan TENG, Matthew WALSH
Beijing (AFP) March 17, 2023

Chinese President Xi Jinping will make a state visit to Moscow next week, where he will hold talks with his strategic ally Vladimir Putin just over a year into Russia's war in Ukraine.

Xi will be in Russia from Monday to Wednesday, Beijing's foreign ministry and the Kremlin said on Friday.

China's foreign ministry called Xi's trip "a visit for peace" that aimed to "practice true multilateralism... improve global governance and make contributions to the development and progress of the world".

The two leaders would exchange views on bilateral relations and major international and regional issues, ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a regular press conference.

"At present, changes not seen in a century are rapidly evolving, and the world has entered a new period of turmoil," he said.

"China will uphold its objective and fair position on the Ukrainian crisis and play a constructive role in promoting peace talks."

The Kremlin said the two presidents would speak about "strategic cooperation" and "discuss deepening the exhaustive partnership and strategic cooperation between Russia and China".

Xi's visit comes just over a year after Russia invaded Ukraine, kicking off a war that has isolated Moscow on the international stage.

China, a major Russian ally, has sought to position itself as a neutral party in the conflict, urging Moscow and Kyiv to resolve it through negotiations.

In a 12-point position paper on the war last month, China called for dialogue and respect for all countries' territorial sovereignty.

But Western leaders have repeatedly criticised Beijing for failing to condemn the invasion, accusing it of providing Moscow with diplomatic cover for its war.

The United States has accused China of mulling arms shipments to support Russia's war -- claims Beijing has strongly denied.

- China the peacemaker? -

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said in February he was planning to meet Xi after Beijing called for talks.

The Chinese foreign ministry did not confirm on Friday whether he planned to do so.

However, the two nations' foreign ministers held a phone call on Thursday, the first since China's Qin Gang took office.

Qin urged Kyiv and Moscow to restart peace talks "as soon as possible", adding that "China is concerned that the crisis could escalate and get out of control", according to an official readout.

His Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba said the call included discussion of "the significance of the principle of territorial integrity", without giving details.

Formerly socialist allies with a tempestuous relationship, in recent years China and Russia have deepened cooperation in the economic, military and political sectors as part of what they call a "no limits" partnership.

Both sides have frequently emphasised the close relationship between Putin and Xi, who began a third five-year term as president this month in a break with longstanding precedent.

Xi last visited Russia in 2019, while Putin attended the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Beijing last year and the two leaders also met at a regional security gathering in Uzbekistan in September.

Xi, 69, also helped spur a China-mediated deal to restore ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran last week.

"Whether (China) is actually stepping up its efforts to play peacemaker in a meaningful way will depend on the substance of what it proposes during meetings with leaders from Ukraine and Russia," said Ja-Ian Chong, an associate professor at the National University of Singapore.

"Their previous peace plan was more about general principles than actionable proposals," the specialist in Chinese foreign policy told AFP.

White House says Xi-Zelensky talks would be a 'good thing'
Washington (AFP) March 16, 2023 - The White House said Thursday that talks between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Chinese leader Xi Jinping would be a "good thing," but warned Beijing against taking a "one-sided" view of the conflict.

"We think it would be a very good thing if the two of them talk," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters when asked about a Wall Street Journal report that the Ukrainian leader is set to talk with Xi for the first time since Chinese-ally Russia invaded.

"We support and have supported" contact, Kirby said. But he cautioned against a Chinese push for a ceasefire in Ukraine, saying it would simply help Russian aggression.

There has been no confirmation of a call to Zelensky by Xi. However, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang and his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba talked by phone Thursday.

Xi is also reported to be preparing a trip to Moscow to speak with his ally President Vladimir Putin.

Kirby said the United States has not confirmed that a Putin-Xi summit will take place but urged Beijing to avoid seeking a resolution to the war that would "reflect only the Russian perspective."

He said China's highlighting of the need for a ceasefire "sounds perfectly reasonable," but would effectively "ratify Russia's conquest."

"It would, in effect, recognize Russia's gains" and "constitute another, continued violation of the UN Charter," he said.

Russian forces occupying swaths of Ukraine are currently under intense pressure from Western-armed Ukrainian troops.

A ceasefire would allow Moscow to "further entrench its positions in Ukraine, to rebuild their forces... and retrain them so that they can restart attacks at a time of their choosing," Kirby said.

A durable peace "can't be one-sided and it has to absolutely include and be informed by Ukrainian perspectives and Ukrainian decisions," he said.

China urges Ukraine, Russia to restart peace talks 'as soon as possible'
Beijing (AFP) March 16, 2023 - China's foreign minister on Thursday urged Kyiv and Moscow to restart peace talks "as soon as possible", while Kyiv said the call also raised the importance of Ukraine's territorial integrity.

Beijing "hopes that all parties will keep calm, exercise restraint, resume peace talks as soon as possible and return to the track of political settlement", Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang told his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba in a phone call.

The call was the first official talks between the pair since the Chinese foreign minister took office in December.

"China is concerned that the crisis could escalate and get out of control," Qin said.

"China hopes that Ukraine and Russia retain hope for dialogue and negotiation," he added.

China has been criticised by Western countries for failing to condemn Moscow's invasion of its European neighbour, and last month strongly denied US claims that it was mulling arms shipments to support Russia's war.

Kuleba summed up the ministers' call on Twitter, saying it included discussion of "the significance of the principle of territorial integrity", without giving details.

Beijing last month published a position paper on Moscow's war in Ukraine, calling for dialogue and seeking to position itself as a neutral mediator.

Qin reiterated Thursday his support for that proposal, saying Beijing had "upheld an objective and just position on the Ukrainian issue, committed itself to promoting peace talks and called on the international community to create conditions for peace talks."

Kuleba said that while speaking to Qin, he underscored the importance of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's proposals "for ending the aggression and restoring just peace in Ukraine".