Xi Jinping will travel to Moscow next Monday. It will be the first visit by the Chinese president to Vladimir Putin’s home since the invasion of Ukraine began. A meeting to reaffirm the strong ties that unite them or will the Chinese leader put pressure on Putin to order a ceasefire?
As Wang Wenbin, a spokesman for the Beijing Foreign Ministry, said this Friday, Xi’s visit will be a “journey for peace.” According to the statement published by the Kremlin, both leaders would discuss “issues of the development of relations of comprehensive association and strategic interaction between Russia and China.” They will also “participate in an exchange of views in the context of deepening cooperation in the international arena and will sign a series of important bilateral documents.”
But back to spokesman Wang’s remarks: “China maintains a fair and objective position on Ukraine and plays a constructive role in promoting peace talks.”
The announcement of Xi’s trip coincided with information published by the US media Politico, which claims, based on customs data, that Chinese companies would have sent, between June and December 2022, a thousand assault rifles to Russia, as well as drones, ammunition and bulletproof vests. These shipments would have been made through third countries, such as Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. The rifles would have come from China North Industries Group Corporation Limited, one of the largest state defense contractors in the Asian giant.
Regarding this information, which does not specify whether Beijing is selling weapons that Moscow can use – or is using – in the war, spokesman Wang has defended that his country “adopts a prudent and responsible attitude in military exports”, and that it controls the “export of dual-use items”, in relation to commercial military equipment that can also be used on the battlefield. Beijing has always denied providing any kind of military support to Putin in his attack on Ukraine.
A few hours before Xi’s visit to Putin next week was confirmed, from Beijing, Foreign Minister Qin Gang picked up the phone to call his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmitro Kuleba. The talk lasted about 15 minutes. The Chinese said that kyiv and Moscow should restart peace negotiations, and do so “as soon as possible.” Qin said his government is very concerned that the conflict “could escalate and get out of control.”
China continues without publicly condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In official statements about it, he continues to call it a “crisis.” Not even the term “war” has a place in a narrative that, on many occasions, resembles that of the Kremlin. Although it is also true that this tacit support for Putin was more pronounced a year ago than now. The peace document published a few weeks ago by the Xi Jinping regime called for a ceasefire and unconditional respect for the sovereignty of all countries in its first points.
“China hopes all parties will remain calm, exercise restraint, resume peace talks as soon as possible and return to the path of political settlement,” Qin said in his phone call. “China hopes that (Ukraine and Russia) will not close the door on a political solution no matter how difficult and challenging the situation,” the minister said.
From kyiv they trust that this conversation was the appetizer for a video call between Xi Jinping and President Volodimir Zelenski. The Ukrainian has spent almost a year seeking, without success for now, a chat with his Chinese counterpart, who instead has exchanged three calls and a face-to-face with Putin since he launched the attack on Ukraine. Media such as Reuters and The Wall Street Journal have pointed out that Xi could call Zelensky next week, after the Chinese leader’s trip to Moscow.
After Beijing’s diplomatic success in bringing Iran and Saudi Arabia to the same table to re-establish ties, can China broker peace between Russia and Ukraine? For months, many authoritative voices, starting with European leaders, have been calling on Beijing to play a role of real mediator, putting pressure on its partner Putin to stop the attack. But the Asian giant, beyond asking for peace and winking at both sides, such as defending Ukraine’s territorial sovereignty or sharing Putin’s security concerns, has so far adhered to its traditional principle of not interfering in conflicts of other countries.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
