BEIJING (Reuters) – On Friday, China’s President Xi Jinping warned his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that the path to peace negotiations in Ukraine would be difficult, but that China will maintain its “objective and fair attitude” on the matter.
According to a report on a phone chat between the two leaders, Xi said Beijing and Moscow should closely coordinate and cooperate in international matters, emphasising Russia’s readiness to participate in talks over Ukraine.
“The Chinese side has noticed and expressed gratitude for the Russian side’s statement that it has never refused to settle the dispute via diplomatic dialogue,” Xi was reported as saying in the video conversation by CCTV.
Xi and Putin have grown closer in recent years as a result of their mutual scepticism of the US and its allies, as seen by their proclamation of a “no-limits” strategic cooperation in early February, which sent alarm bells throughout the West.
However, since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, China has officially said that it is not a party to the conflict, and in September, after the Russian army suffered repeated reverses on the battlefield, Putin openly recognised that Xi had “questions and worries” about the fight.
Putin said on Russian television on Friday that he hoped to enhance military cooperation with China, but the CCTV account of the conversation made no mention of military collaboration.
The “no-limits” depiction of the Sino-Russian relationship has fallen out of favour in Beijing, at least publicly, as the Chinese government wants to avoid Western penalties for assisting Russia’s war operations.
Xi, on the other hand, made plain on Friday the ideological kinship between Beijing and Moscow in fighting what both see as the imperialist US-led West.
“Facts have repeatedly shown that confinement and repression are unpopular, and sanctions and meddling will fail,” Xi warned Putin.
“China is ready to collaborate with Russia and other progressive forces across the globe against hegemony and power politics…to resolutely protect both nations’ sovereignty, security, and development interests, as well as international justice.”
