Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin meet in Moscow, discuss Chinese peace plan for Ukraine
- Washington and its allies are skeptical that Xi can be an honest broker; US urges China and Russia to ‘respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity’
- The two leaders meet for 4.5 hours, and Russian media reports that Putin ‘went out into the street’ to see Xi off as they parted, a rare move for him
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian leader Vladimir Putin met for more than four hours on Monday in Moscow, discussing topics that included bilateral cooperation, the war in Ukraine and a peace plan proposed by Beijing, according to Russian and Chinese state media.
Xi’s visit, which will last for three days, has drawn scrutiny and suspicion from the West. The US and its allies have argued that China is hardly a neutral party given its diplomatic and material support for Russia since it invaded Ukraine a year ago.
The Chinese leader said that “rational voices” were gaining sway regarding Ukraine, with a growing number of countries in favour of de-escalation and dialogue and against “adding fuel to the fire”, according to Xinhua.
“We encourage President Xi to press President Putin directly on the need to respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said in Washington as the two leaders met. “The world and China’s neighbours will certainly be watching closely.”
According to Russian media, the leaders’ “informal” talks started at 4.30pm local time on Monday, extended over dinner and wrapped up after four and a half hours, and Putin “went out into the street” to see Xi off as they parted, reportedly a rare move for him.
