In recent months, many have expressed concern that China has strengthened ties with Iran, North Korea, and Russia. Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s arrival in Moscow on Monday has caught the international community’s attention, as a strong alignment of Iran, North Korea, China and Russia represents an existential threat to the West.
Xi Jinping’s regime claims his visit with Russian President Vladimir Putin is part of a “mission of peace.”
The visit comes days after the International Criminal Court charged Putin with crimes against humanity in connection with his invasion of Ukraine.
Reportedly, Xi is attempting to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. However, the U.S. has opposed a ceasefire that allows Russia to keep areas of Ukraine annexed in 2022.
Xi departed his plane to great fanfare, including a red carpet and a military band playing the two countries’ national anthems. A smiling Xi proclaimed the visit marked the beginning of a “new era” and projected there would now be “new momentum” in the working relationship between the two countries.
Wanting to express solidarity with its communist neighbor, Xi told the Russian state-run news service TASS: “I am very glad, at the invitation of President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, to come back to the land of our close neighbor. I am sure my visit will be fruitful.”
Reportedly, the China-Russian summit schedule included private, informal meetings between Putin and Xi, a grand state dinner and “peace negotiations” on Tuesday.
Reportedly, Xi has tried to engage Ukraine in negotiations. Last week, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang spoke by phone with his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba. Government officials released few details following that contact.
U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby noted America would not support any agreement or ceasefire stipulations supporting Russia over Ukraine.
“While that sounds perfectly reasonable, and it sounds like a good thing,” Kirby said, “a ceasefire right now would basically ratify Russia’s conquest.”
Kirby added: “Russia would basically be free to use that ceasefire to further entrench its positions in Ukraine, to rebuild their forces, refit them, re-man them, retrain them so that they can then restart attacks at a time of their choosing.”
Putin and Xi have rebuffed America’s warnings regarding respecting the sovereignty of Taiwan and Ukraine. In a particularly bold move in light of the International Criminal Court’s recent inditement, Putin made a surprise visit to Mariupol over the weekend. Mariupol is a Russian-occupied Ukrainian city where reportedly 20,000 died in recent months.
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