Ahead of his crucial talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Monday that his peace plan to end the raging Ukraine war takes into account the “legitimate” concerns of all parties and reflects the broadest common understanding of the international community. Xi arrived in Moscow on a three-day official visit, official media in China reported on Monday.
Making his first visit abroad after his endorsement as President and head of the military for an unprecedented third five-year term by China’s Parliament earlier this month, Xi is due to hold talks with Putin during which he is expected to pitch for peace talks to end the Ukraine conflict.
“Russia was the first country I visited after I was elected President 10 years ago,” Xi said in an article titled “Forging Ahead to Open a New Chapter of China-Russia Friendship, Cooperation and Common Development” published in Russia’s newspaper Russian Gazette on Monday.
Xi, 69, who maintained close ties with Putin during his 10-year tenure stitching together with him an anti-US alliance, said he visited Moscow eight times in the last 10 years and met the Russian leader over 40 times during bilateral and multilateral occasions. While the thrust of his article was on further developing the strategic ties against the damaging acts of hegemony, domination and bullying , an apparent dig at the US, it also highlighted Xi’s peace plan to end the Ukraine war.
Buoyed by China’s successful mediatory role in bringing a peace deal between arch-rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia recently following which the two warring Arab countries agreed to resume diplomatic ties, Xi now focuses on brokering a deal to end the Russia-Ukraine war in a bid to enhance Beijing’s role in global diplomacy.
Significantly, Xi is the first world leader to meet Putin after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against the Russian leader accusing him of committing war crimes in Ukraine. While there is no imminent danger of Putin being arrested by the ICC, its warrant was seen as a serious image crisis for him as 123 countries are members of the Court.
“I have put forth several proposals, i.e., observing the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, respect of the legitimate security concerns of all countries, supporting all efforts conducive to the peaceful settlement of the crisis, and ensuring the stability of global industrial and supply chains,” Xi said in his article.
Xi is also expected to speak to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to push for his peace plan though there is a great deal of scepticism in Beijing about the chances of success for China’s plan considering Ukraine is closely aligned with the US and EU without whose consent it cannot reach a peace deal with Russia, especially after enormous damage it suffered due to the Russian offensive.
