On March 20, Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Moscow at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin. His plane landed at Vnukovo airport in the capital, informed CASS.
The Chinese leader’s plane landed around 12:59 p.m. Moscow time. Before that, a plane with a Chinese delegation flew to Moscow.
According to Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov, the Russian leader and President of China begin communion on Monday afternoon. “At approximately 4:30 p.m. (Moscow time), today’s international part with President Putin will continue and be linked (to a meeting with Xi Jinping),” Peskov said.
Leaders will have a one-on-one conversation, which will continue over an informal lunch. “Today there will be an informal, but direct and very important communication between Putin and Xi Jinping,” added the presidential press secretary.
Commenting on the Russian-Chinese negotiations, Peskov informed that at the meeting in Moscow, one way or another, the subject of Ukraine and the Chinese peace plan will be discussed. “Of course, comprehensive explanations will be given by President Putin, so that (PRC) President Xi Jinping can get a first-hand view of the current situation on the Russian side,” the Kremlin spokesman stressed.
The Washington Post wrote the day before that the visit of the Chinese leader to Moscow creates the conditions for a global confrontation, and China is ready to use its partnership with Russia to counter the United States, even if it means tacitly approving the military operation. Russian. in Ukraine.
The New York Times called Xi Jinping’s visit “the most high-profile visit by any world leader to Russia since the pandemic.” According to the newspaper, at the meeting Putin “will try to let the world know that his country is far from isolated.”
Articles by Putin and Xi Jinping
On the eve of the Chinese leader’s visit, the President of Russia and the President of China wrote articles on relations between Moscow and Beijing. Putin’s article was published in the Chinese newspaper Renmin Ribao. The President of Russia noted that he and Xi Jinping have met about 40 times and have always found the time and opportunity to communicate both in a variety of official formats and in an “unrelated” setting. He pointed out that Russia and China “with like-minded people” consistently advocate the creation of a fairer multipolar world order based on international law, not some “rules” that meet the needs of the ” billion gold”.
In the article, Putin also referred to the conflict in Ukraine. According to him, the Russian side is open “to a politico-diplomatic settlement of the Ukrainian crisis”, but in April last year the peace talks were interrupted “in no way by us”. The Russian president expressed his gratitude to the PRC for “a balanced line” in relation to the events in Ukraine, as well as “for understanding their context and their real causes”.
Text of Xi Jinping’s March 20 article published “Russian newspaper”. According to him, Beijing and Moscow are in favor of a world order based on the principles of international law and universal human values. The multipolarity and democratization of international relations is an irreversible trend, said the Chinese president.
He also touched on the subject of Ukraine, noting that complex problems do not have simple solutions. According to Xi Jinping, a rational way out of the crisis and the path to peace are only possible if everyone is open to dialogue in a pragmatic way.
At the end of December 2022, Putin during a conversation with the President of the People’s Republic of China via video link declared what awaits him during a visit to Moscow in the spring of 2023. The Russian president stressed that Xi Jinping’s trip “will demonstrate to the world the strength of Russian-Chinese ties on key issues”. On March 13, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), citing sources, wrote that the Chinese president planned to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy . The conversation between the leaders of the two countries is expected to take place not in a face-to-face meeting, but online. Most likely, Xi Jinping and Zelenskyyy will communicate after the Chinese leader’s visit to Moscow, writes the WSJ.
