A handshake to
Putin’s propaganda coup as he greets Chinese leader in Moscow and declares: We’re fighting against common threats
CHINA’S president Xi has told Vladimir Putin he is ready to ‘ stand guard over the world order’ alongside Russia.
On the first Chinese state visit to Russia since the invasion of Ukraine, Putin said the two countries were fighting ‘common threats’.
The Chinese premier descended a red-carpeted set of steps at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport yesterday serenaded by a military band. He was then welcomed by deputy prime minister Dmitri Chernyshenko. On the runway ahead of three days of talks, Xi said he expected his time there to prove ‘fruitful’.
Putin and Xi later greeted one another as ‘ dear friend’ and shook hands as they met at the Kremlin. Last night, after more than four hours of talks, a Kremlin spokesman said: ‘The conversation is still going on.’
The face-to-face talks between the world’s two most powerful autocrats will be followed by more substantive negotiations by their delegations.
Putin, 70, appeared to be trembling and clutching his seat as the pair sat down for discussions. In recent years his health has been subject to speculation. They were later due at a seven- course banquet including nelma, a freshwater fish from the Pechora River in northern Russia, a traditional seafood soup, pancakes with quail, and Russian wine.
The visit was announced on Friday just hours after Putin was indicted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes in Ukraine.
He is hoping to strengthen Russia’s relationship with China in the face of isolation from the West.
Britain called on Xi to persuade Putin to stop his bombardment of Ukrainian cities which has led to thousands of civilian deaths. Ukraine’s foreign ministry said that it expected Xi to push for an end to the war.
Beijing’s 12-point peace plan for the conflict in Ukraine will be discussed by the leaders and their officials. Putin said he treated the Chinese initiative ‘with respect’. Russia would stand to gain from any negotiated settlement because Ukraine
‘More acute and assertive’
would be forced to sacrifice territory as part of it. A Kremlin spokesman added that Russia would provide ‘clarifications’ to China regarding its position on Ukraine.
The countries signed a ‘no limits’ partnership in early 2022 before the invasion of Ukraine triggered the biggest conflict in Europe since the Second World War.
Both leaders yesterday reaffirmed their commitment to challenging what they see as the United States’ attempt to achieve global dominance. They each wrote articles in Russian and Chinese newspapers accusing it of seeking hegemony.
Putin was the more explicit, telling readers of China’s People’s Daily: ‘The course pursued by the United States to contain both Russia and China, as well as all those who do not succumb to American diktat, is becoming more acute and assertive.’
A more guarded Xi told Russian state media that China was opposed to ‘acts of hegemony, domination and bullying’ generally.
Xi also said there was ‘no universal model of government’ and ‘no world order where the decisive word belongs to a single country’.
China is becoming more assertive and effective diplomatically. This month it brokered a deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia that restored full diplomatic relations. The move wrongfooted UK and US officials.
Putin said that ties between Moscow and Beijing were at their highest point and were ‘without restrictions’. But China’s position on the Ukrainian conflict is considered more nuanced than Putin is prepared to acknowledge.
While Beijing has not openly condemned the invasion – and has abstained from votes at the United National General Assembly on the conflict – it is thought to be against involving itself directly.
The two nations are bound by a shared animosity towards the West but historically are not close allies.
During the Cold War the Soviet Union was the dominant force in global communism while China was
recovering from a civil war. Today the roles are somewhat reversed, with China in the ascendant economically and Russia relying on it to buy its natural resources, which are subject to export restrictions in other parts of the world.
Xi’s visit may provide Putin with a popularity boost. He has not yet said whether he will run for the presidency in 2024. Xi said he was ‘sure’ the Russian people would strongly support him if he did. Xi is also due to speak to Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky by phone. He is not expected to visit Kyiv.
Last night, the US described China’s peace plan as a ‘stalling tactic’ intended to aid Russia’s ailing military campaign.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said: ‘ The world should not be fooled. Calling for a ceasefire that does not include the removal of Russian forces from Ukrainian territory would effectively be supporting the ratification of Russian conquest.’
Mr Blinken said the US will send a further $ 350million (£285million) of equipment to Ukraine. The package includes ammunition for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, fuel trucks, river boats, Bradley armoured vehicles and anti-tank weapons.
WE ARE in an Alice in Wonderland world of inverted values when China’s president parades himself as a man of peace in Russia.
Yesterday, cynical dictator Xi Jinping had no compunction in overlooking and excusing Vladimir Putin’s violations of international law by illegally invading Ukraine.
The truth is Beijing’s ‘peace plan’ is not worth the paper it is written on.
By keeping this terrible, expensive war going for years, Xi hopes to bleed the West (and specifically America) dry of money, weapons and resolve to defend its allies, while turning Russia into a vassal state.
Why? Because he may then calculate there would be less resistance if – or when – his military invaded and captured Taiwan.
China is challenging the world order. The West must ensure Xi’s ploy doesn’t succeed.