Liam Conner
Beijing — Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked Chinese leader Xi Jinping for your efforts to resolve the war in Ukraine at a Beijing summit on Thursday, where the two leaders reaffirmed a “boundless” partnership that has grown as both countries face rising tensions with the West.
Putin’s two-day state visit to one of his strongest allies came as his country’s forces pressed an offensive into the Kharkiv region of northeastern Ukraine – the most significant border incursion since the massive invasion. scale started in February 2022.
The visit, largely symbolic, highlighted the growing partnership between two countries facing challenges in their relations with the US and Europe.
“Both sides want to show that despite what is happening globally, despite the pressure both sides face from the US, both sides are not willing to turn their backs on each other anytime soon,” said Hoo Tiang Boon, professor who studies Chinese foreign policy at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University.
There is talk of peace in Ukraine, but there are no proposals
While both leaders have said they seek an end to the war in Ukraine, they offered no new details in their public statements Thursday afternoon. China has significant influence as Russia’s main supporter, both before and after its invasion. The country claims to take a neutral position in the conflict, but has supported Moscow’s claims that Russia was provoked into attacking Ukraine by the West, and continues to supply Russia with key components that Moscow needs for its weapons production.
China proposed a broadly worded peace plan in 2023, but was rejected by both Ukraine and the West for not calling on Russia to abandon occupied parts of Ukraine.
“China looks forward to Europe’s speedy return to peace and stability and will continue to play a constructive role in this regard,” Xi said, speaking alongside Putin.
Putin said he would inform the Chinese leader in detail about “the situation in Ukraine” and said “we appreciate the initiative of our Chinese colleagues and friends to regulate the situation.”
The two-year-old war has entered a critical phase with Russia’s new offensive in Ukraine. Kiev’s exhausted military still waiting for new supplies of anti-aircraft missiles and artillery shells from the United States after months of delay.
On the eve of the visit, Putin said in an interview with the Chinese press that the Kremlin was prepared to negotiate the conflict in Ukraine, “but such negotiations must take into account the interests of all countries involved in the conflict, including ours”.
Putin said the Chinese proposal rejected by Ukraine last year could “lay the foundation for a political and diplomatic process that would take into account Russia’s security concerns and contribute to achieving long-term, sustainable peace.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that any negotiations must include the restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, the withdrawal of Russian troops, the release of all prisoners, a tribunal for those responsible for the aggression and security guarantees for Ukraine .
The Ukrainian leader recently warned in an interview with CBS News that if the US and NATO are unable to help their military stop Putin’s advance, Russia will be able to take its war directly “to Europe and the United States” as NATO’s largest member.
The growing “boundless” relationship between China and Russia
Before their remarks, the two leaders signed a joint declaration on deepening the comprehensive strategic partnership between their nations on their 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations. Xi said China and Russia will continue to uphold a position of non-alliance and non-confrontation.
The two autocratic countries – which two years ago suggested they were working together to offer a new “democratic world order” – also said in their joint statement on Thursday that they would continue to consider the negative impact of US and NATO strategy in the Asia-Pacific.
China has been increasingly assertive in its claims over a number of contested territories in the region recently, with tension between Beijing and the US focused heavily on the future of the democratically governed island of Taiwan, located just off the east coast of China. Xi has vowed to assert Chinese control over the island, which the US is required by law to help defend, and has never ruled out the use of force.
Thursday’s meeting was a further affirmation of the “no-holds-barred” friendly relationship that the two leaders formalized in 2022, shortly before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Since then, Russia has become increasingly economically dependent on China as Western sanctions have cut off Moscow’s access to much of the international trading system. China’s increased trade with Russia, totaling $240 billion last year, helped the country mitigate some of the worst negative effects of sanctions.
Moscow has diverted most of its energy exports to China and relies on Chinese companies for imports of high-tech components for its military industries – to circumvent Western sanctions.
“President Putin and I agree that we should actively seek points of convergence of the interests of both countries, to develop each other’s advantages and deepen the integration of interests, realizing each other’s achievements,” Xi said.
Russia-China military ties have also strengthened in recent years. They carried out a joint war games seriesincluding naval exercises and long-range bomber patrols over the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea.
China remains an important market for Russian military equipment, while Beijing is also massively expanding its national defense industries, including aircraft carrier construction and nuclear submarines.
Putin has previously said that Russia has shared highly sensitive military technologies with China that have helped significantly strengthen its defense capabilities. In October 2019, he mentioned that Russia was helping China develop an early warning system to detect ballistic missile launches – a system involving ground-based radars and satellites that only Russia and the US had.
