Isolated, Putin must meet with Xi to rally support for the war, but a cautious China is wary of the West’s punitive measures.
President Vladimir Putin has marked his approval of China’s plan as a “real desire” to end the war in Ukraine, as he travels to Beijing to shore up support for his vital international partner.
In an interview with China’s Xinhua news agency on Wednesday, on the eve of a two-day visit to the country to meet President Xi Jinping, Putin praised Beijing’s approach, saying he truly understood the “root causes” of the conflict and its “global geopolitical significance”. “.
China’s 12-point document aimed at ending the war received a mixed reception when it was released last year. However, Putin welcomed the additional measures made public last month, calling them “realistic and constructive measures” that “develop the idea of the need to overcome the Cold War mentality.”
Xi’s additional principles, outlined during his talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, call for a “cooling” of the situation, conditions to restore peace, create stability and minimize effects on the economy worldwide.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak on Wednesday called Putin’s comments on possible war negotiations “hypocritical.”
Putin is expected to arrive in Beijing on Thursday, his first foreign trip since his re-election in March and his second in just over six months to China. He will also travel to Harbin, in the northeast of the country, for a trade and investment exhibition.
China is wary
Russia and China proclaimed a “no-holds-barred” relationship just days before Moscow launches its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, but Beijing has so far avoided providing actual weapons and munitions for the effort Russian war.
While the West has imposed unprecedented sanctions following its military offensive, Russia views China as a crucial economic lifeline.
The two countries have since taken their trade to record levels. China has benefited from cheap Russian energy imports and access to vast natural resources, including regular gas shipments via the Power of Siberia pipeline.
But China, already engaged in a trade war with the United States, is wary that its economic partnership and military cooperation with Russia will come under closer scrutiny from the West.
On Tuesday, the United States imposed significant new tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, advanced batteries, solar cells, steel, aluminum and medical equipment. China immediately promised retaliation, promising to take measures to defend its interests.
China has already been the target of punitive measures because of the war. This month, the United States announced sanctions against more than 280 entities in its latest attempt to cripple Russia’s military and industrial capabilities, including 20 companies based in China and Hong Kong.
Peace Summit
Russia views the conflict in Ukraine as a struggle against a “collective West” that has ignored its security concerns by favoring NATO’s eastward expansion and activity military near its borders.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s peace plan calls for withdrawing Russian troops, restoring its 1991 post-Soviet borders and holding Russia accountable for its actions.
He has gone to great lengths to persuade China to participate in a “peace summit” planned for June in Switzerland.
But Russia, which is not invited, rejects the initiative as meaningless and says negotiations must take into account “new realities”.
Podolyak, Zelensky’s aide, posted on is trying to break through in the Kharkiv region, while intensifying crimes against civilians.”
Once again, #Poutinethe hypocritical “negotiating” activity of . Once again he talks about demands for an ultimatum to recognize the “non-defeat of the Russian Federation”, disguising it as traditional Russian “diplomacy”…
At the same time, #Russia continues to burn the cities of Donbass and tries to break into…
– Михайло Подоляк (@Podolyak_M) May 15, 2024
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, visiting Ukraine, said Russia should and must pay to rebuild what it destroyed in the country, adding that the US intends to use its power to seize Russian assets.
Zelensky asked Blinken for Patriot missile defense systems for the city of Kharkiv, near the Russian border, as Russian forces continue to advance in the region.
News Source : www.aljazeera.com
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