US and other Western nations wary of Xi’s trip to Moscow

The Chinese might promote a ceasefire in Ukraine and ‘try to couch themselves as peacemakers’, a White House official says

Britain says it will continue to press Beijing to call ‘on Putin to withdraw his troops’

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Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Uzbekistan on September 16, 2022. US, British and EU officials responded cautiously to the announcement that Xi would visit Moscow next week. Photo: Sputnik via AP

Orange Wangin WashingtonandFinbarr Berminghamin Brussels

Published: 2:54am, 18 Mar 2023Updated: 11:11am, 18 Mar 2023

Washington and other Western capitals reacted warily on Friday to the announcement of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Russia next week, with the US “deeply concerned” Beijing could try to pose as a peacemaker by promoting an immediate ceasefire in the war in Ukraine.

Both Beijing and the Kremlin confirmed on Friday that Xi will make a state visit to Russia from Monday to Wednesday to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. It will be Xi’s first foreign trip since he secured an unprecedented third term as China’s president last week.

His face-to-face talks with Putin are widely expected to have broad implications for the war, now in its second year, and China’s already tense relationship with the US.

But its significance grew further on Friday after pressure grew on Putin: the International Criminal Court in The Hague, the Netherlands, issued an arrest warrant for him over the war crime of illegally deporting Ukrainian children to Russia.

Putin and Xi in Beijing on February 4, 2022, three weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine. Photo: Sputnik/Kremlin via Reuters

Additionally, Turkey, after blocking Finland’s application to join Nato in the wake of Russia’s invasion, agreed to support it. Putin has maintained that Nato is a threat to Russia.