© Sputnik/Sergey Bobylev/Pool via REUTERSRussian President Vladimir Putin speaks with Chinese President Xi Jinping before an extended-format meeting of heads of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit (SCO) member states in Samarkand, Uzbekistan September 16, 2022.
In what the Kremlin said was an article written for a Chinese newspaper on Sunday, the Russian president called Xi his "good old friend" and said Russia had high hopes for his visit, the Chinese leader's first to Russia since Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine last year.
Xi's visit comes just days after the international criminal court (ICC) in The Hague issued an arrest warrant for Putin for overseeing the abduction of Ukrainian children. Neither China nor Russia are members of the court or recognise its jurisdiction.
Comment: And the ICC wasn't recognized by the US when it threatened to investigate its soldiers war crimes. Nor does it seem to have issued any other arrest warrants for the relentless and heinous criminality committed by the West and its allies - such as Israel - so why would anyone take anything it says seriously now?
In the article, Putin said: "We are grateful for the balanced line of [China] in connection with the events taking place in Ukraine, for understanding their background and true causes. We welcome China's willingness to play a constructive role in resolving the crisis."
Xi and Putin signed a "no limits" partnership agreement weeks before the invasion last year. China has publicly remained neutral in the conflict, while criticising western sanctions against Russia and reaffirming its close ties with Moscow.
Beijing last month published a 12-point paper calling for dialogue and a settlement in Ukraine, but it contained only general statements and no concrete proposal for how the year-long war might end.
Comment: The war could end once Russia is sure its objectives have been achieved, and then once the West, via its vassal Ukraine, agrees to any settlement: Only through 'military means' can Russia achieve its goals in Ukraine - Moscow
Ukraine, which says any settlement would require Russia to withdraw from all the territory it has seized including the Crimean peninsula Russia annexed in 2014, cautiously welcomed the Chinese proposal.
The United States has reacted with extreme scepticism, given China's refusal to condemn Russia's invasion, and said a ceasefire now would only lock in Russian territorial gains and give Putin more time for his army to regroup.
Comment: Russia doesn't really need time to regroup, as Putin said, Russia has barely gotten started.
Washington has said since last month that it was concerned China might provide Russia with weapons, which Beijing has denied.
Putin said Russo-Chinese relations were at a historic high and they were coordinating their foreign policy to fight common threats as US attempts to contain both countries took on an "ever sharper and more assertive character".
Reader Comments
Putin is loving his Chinese "American" toys lol