Xi returns to Beijing with Russian business deals
No progress seen on Ukraine ‘peace’ proposal as Russia strikes civilians
Chinese President Xi Jinping returned to Beijing on Wednesday evening after wrapping up a three-day state visit to Russia. In 10 hours of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Xi won trade deals but gained no progress on ending the war in Ukraine.
China had described Xi's visit as a "peace trip" and had launched a 12-point plan to resolve the war in Ukraine in advance of Xi’s travel. But there was no outward sign that Xi was able to use China’s growing economic leverage to persuade Putin to end his invasion.
Xi intends to speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has welcomed China’s interest in resolving the conflict, but no date for that conversation has been set.
Putin and Xi signed two joint statements during the visit: one, ‘Deepening the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership of Coordination for the New Era’, and two, a ‘Pre-2030 Development Plan on Priorities in China-Russia Economic, Cooperation’.
The two sides also signed several bilateral cooperation documents in the fields of agriculture, forestry, basic science, market oversight and media, according to China’s Foreign Ministry.
The proposal for ending the “crisis” in Ukraine – Chinese officials avoid calling it a war or an invasion - merited one paragraph at the end of the strategic partnership document. It does not call for withdrawal of Russian troops as Ukraine has demanded.
Rather, Xi has supported Putin's claim that the Ukraine war was provoked by NATO's eastward expansion and Chinese government spokesmen have criticized Washington for “pouring fuel on the fire” by providing Ukraine with arms and support.
China forging a narrative
Analysts expect China and Russia to use the so-called peace proposal to portray the US and NATO as the aggressors.
“China will likely ramp up messaging that the US is opposed to a cease-fire, that the US is opposed to the end of the war,” Bonny Lin, a fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Bloomberg.
“Because Putin appears to accept China's 12-point position paper as the basis for resolving the conflict, Beijing will continue to portray itself as a potential mediator between Moscow and Kyiv," Ali Wyne, a senior analyst at the Eurasia Group, told the US government-funded Voice of America in Chinese.
In Beijing on Wednesday, China Foreign Minister Qin Gang briefed the media on Xi’s visit to Russia. The trip demonstrated China's global image as a peace builder, manifested China's role and responsibility as a major country, Qin said, according to the state-run Xinhua news service.
“The principal contradiction in today's world is not at all a so-called ‘democracy vs autocracy’ played up by a handful of countries, but a struggle between development and containment of development, and between global justice and power politics,” Qin said.
Zelenskyy visits front lines
In Ukraine on Wednesday, Zelenskyy visited the embattled city of Bahkmut where Russian and Ukrainian forces have waged brutal battles over the last several months.
As Xi and Putin were meeting in Moscow, Russia launched drone and missile strikes on civilians in Ukraine.
Seven people were killed near Kyiv on Tuesday at a dormitory building in Rzhyshchiv. Police and emergency services evacuated more than 200 people, 20 were taken to the hospital, and a few were missing, according to Ukrainian media reports.
A missile strike on a residential building killed one person, and injured 32 others in Zaporizhia on Wednesday, according to Ukraine's State Emergency Service. Russian forces fired at least six missiles at the eastern Ukrainian city.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces appeared to launch a combined air and sea drone attack on the Russian-occupied port of Sevastopol in Crimea, 140 miles behind the front lines, according to Russian government officials and a Ukrainian Telegram channel.
Video on social media showed an explosion near the entrance to the harbor and tracer rounds fired by Russian air defenses.
Ukraine’s importance to Asia
In Washington, Secretary of State Antony Blinken appearing before Congress warned that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was having a “profound impact” on Asia.
“I think if China’s looking at this – and they are looking at it very carefully – they will draw lessons for how the world comes together, or doesn’t, to stand up to this aggression,” Blinken said.
China’s military will be capable of invading Taiwan by 2027, according to US assessments.
Importantly for the US, China has not provided substantial military aid to Russia despite Xi’s diplomatic support, Blinken said.
“As we speak today, we have not seen them cross that line,” Blinken told senators in response to a question whether China was providing lethal aid to Russia.
Last month, the German news magazine Der Spiegel reported Russia was negotiating for Chinese-made ZT-180 prototype drones that could be used to attack Ukrainian troops.
Speaking to US lawmakers, Blinken played down the significance of Xi’s visit to Moscow, calling the relationship a “marriage of convenience” and dismissing Russia as a “junior partner” to China.