Vladimir Putin says he is ready to discuss China’s Ukraine plan at Xi Jinping Moscow talks
While “dear friends” Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping have been holding talks, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been meeting with another world leader.
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While Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping were set to hold a second day of talks on Tuesday, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was en route to meet Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv.
President Xi’s trip to Moscow has been viewed as a major boost for his strategic partner Putin, who is subject to an International Criminal Court warrant over accusations of unlawfully deporting Ukrainian children.
On Monday, Xi and Putin held four and a half hours of talks, calling each other “dear friend.” In a rare move, Putin escorted Xi to his car after the talks, and the two were seen smiling together.
During the meeting, the Russian leader said he was open to talks on Ukraine and praised Beijing’s 12-point position paper on the conflict, which includes a call for dialogue and respect for all countries’ territorial sovereignty.
Meanwhile, Japanese leader Kishida said he would offer “solidarity and support” in a meeting with Mr Zelenskyy.
Japan and China are close trading partners, but Tokyo has been increasingly worried about Beijing’s growing assertiveness in the region.
Japan is part of the US-led security alliance known informally as the Quad, which also includes India and Australia, and positions itself as a bulwark against China’s military ambitions in Asia and the Pacific.
Mr Kishida is the last Group of Seven leader to visit Ukraine and has come under increasing pressure to make the trip, as Japan hosts the grouping’s summit this May.
Moscow and Beijing have over the past years ramped up cooperation, both driven by a desire to counterbalance US global dominance.
Beijing’s stance on Ukraine has drawn criticism from Western nations, which have said China is tacitly supporting Moscow’s armed intervention.
During their talks Monday, the Russian leader said the two countries had “plenty of common objectives and tasks”, while Mr Xi hailed their “close ties.” Analysts say Mr Xi’s efforts on Ukraine are unlikely to yield a cessation of hostilities, but his trip is being closely watched in Western capitals.
‘OPEN TO NEGOTIATIONS’: PUTIN IN TALKS WITH CHINESE PRESIDENT
Vladimir Putin told his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping that Russia was open to discussing China’s proposals to end the fighting in Ukraine, at the start of high-stakes talks in the Kremlin.
“We are always open to negotiations,” Mr Putin told Mr Xi, who was on his first visit to Moscow since the start of Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine last year.
“We will certainly discuss all these issues, including your initiatives which we treat with respect, of course”.
During their meeting at the Kremlin, Mr Putin began to noticeably squirm as his feet twitched further fuelling speculation he has Parkinson’s disease.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken voiced scepticism over Mr Xi’s “peace” proposals in Moscow, warning they could be a “stalling tactic” to help Russia on the ground in Ukraine.
“The world should not be fooled by any tactical move by Russia, supported by China or any other country, to freeze the war on its own terms,” Mr Blinken told reporters.
He said the United States welcomed any diplomacy for a “just and durable peace” but raised doubts that China was safeguarding the “sovereignty and territorial integrity” of Ukraine.
Mr Putin and Mr Xi concluded informal talks in Moscow on Monday, lasting four-and-a-half hours, according to Russian news agencies.
The summit between the Russian president and the Chinese leader comes as China seeks to portray itself as a neutral party in the Ukraine conflict.
But Washington has accused Beijing of mulling arms exports to Moscow – claims China has vociferously denied.
Mr Xi’s three-day trip also serves as a show of support for internationally isolated Mr Putin, just days after a war crimes tribunal issued a warrant for his arrest over accusation of unlawfully deporting Ukrainian children.
During his initial meeting with Mr Putin, Mr Xi hailed “close ties” with Russia and the Russian leader said the two countries had “plenty of common objectives and tasks”.
“We have plenty of common tasks and objectives,” Mr Putin told Mr Xi, adding it was “symbolic” that the Chinese leader chose to travel to Russia for the first foreign visit of his new term.
The two leaders are due to discuss China’s 12-point position paper on the Ukraine conflict, which includes a call for dialogue and respect for all countries’ territorial sovereignty.
Mr Putin has welcomed Beijing’s statements on Ukraine as being indicative of a willingness to play a “constructive role” in ending the conflict.
Mr Xi’s visit comes just days after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Mr Putin on the accusation of unlawfully deporting Ukrainian children.
Beijing said on Monday the ICC should avoid what it called “politicisation and double standards” and respect the principle of immunity for heads of state.
The court should “uphold an objective and impartial stance” and “respect the immunity of heads of state from jurisdiction under international law”, foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told a regular briefing.
Russia said it opened a criminal probe into ICC prosecutor Karim Khan, saying he had accused “a person known to be innocent” and was planning “an attack on a representative of a foreign state enjoying international protection”.
Beijing and Moscow have drawn closer in recent years under a partnership that has served as a diplomatic bulwark against the West.
China has lambasted what it sees as a US-led pressure campaign against Russia as Moscow’s military effort in Ukraine drags on, instead calling for what it calls “impartial” mediation of the conflict.
“No single country should dictate the international order,” Mr Xi wrote in a Russian newspaper article published on Monday.
“China has all along upheld an objective and impartial position based on the merits of the issue, and actively promoted peace talks,” he added.
Beijing’s stance has drawn criticism from Western nations, which say China is providing diplomatic cover for Moscow’s armed intervention.
They argue that China’s proposals are heavy on grand principles but light on practical solutions.
Analysts say Mr Xi’s moves are unlikely to yield a cessation of hostilities, but his trip will be closely watched in Western capitals.
The Wall Street Journal has reported that Mr Xi could also be planning his first call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy since the conflict began.
Mr Zelenskyy has said he would welcome talks with his Chinese counterpart.
Upon his arrival on the runway of a Moscow airport Mr Xi said: “I am confident the visit will be fruitful and give new momentum to the healthy and stable development of Chinese-Russian relations,”, according to Russian news agencies.
Mr Xi was greeted on a red carpet by a military brass band which played the two countries’ anthems and by Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko, Russian state media showed.
Mr Xi described bilateral ties as entering “a new era,” echoing comments by Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov last week who said Mr Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin would sign documents ushering in closer ties during the visit.
“In a world of volatility and transformation, China will continue to work with Russia to safeguard the international system with the UN at its core,” Mr Xi added, according to Russian news agencies.
He also hailed China and Russia as “good neighbours” and “reliable partners”.
Earlier, President Xi described his trip as a “journey of friendship, co-operation and peace”, though China has been criticised by Western nations for what they consider tacit backing and diplomatic cover for Russia’s war in Ukraine.
His trip serves to bolster an isolated Mr Putin, who in a defiant move on Sunday went to the Ukrainian city of Mariupol – his first visit to territory captured from Kyiv since Moscow’s invasion in February 2022.
US TO PROVIDE $350M MILITARY AID
The United States announced $350 million in new military aid to Ukraine, including ammunition for Himars rocket launchers and Brasdley armoured fighting vehicles, as Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed the conflict on a visit to Moscow.
“Russia alone could end its war today. Until Russia does, we will stand united with Ukraine for as long as it takes,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
The assistance comes from funds already committed by the US Congress. It also includes ammunition for howitzers, antitank weapons and the Harm missiles that target electronic transmissions.
“As Russia’s unconscionable war of aggression against Ukraine continues at great human cost, we are again reminded of the boundless courage and steadfast resolve of the Ukrainian people, and the strong support for Ukraine across the international community,” Blinken said.
PUTIN’S SHOCK VISIT TO FRONTLINE
Mr Putin has made a shock visit to the occupied Ukrainian city of Mariupol, according to Russian state media.
He was filmed by Russian state TV driving around the stricken city and meeting with residents in what would be his first visit to Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion in February last year.
Ukraine’s defence ministry said on Sunday that Mr Putin’s surprise visit to the port city of Mariupol, which fell under Russian control last year, took place during the night as the actions of a “thief”.
“As befits a thief, Putin visited Ukrainian Mariupol, under the cover of night. First, it is safer. Also, darkness allows him to highlight what he wants to show, and keeps the city his army completely destroyed and its few surviving inhabitants away from prying eyes,” the ministry said on Twitter.
It was Mr Putin’s first visit to territory captured from Ukraine since the start of Moscow’s invasion and came just days after an arrest warrant was issued over his alleged war crimes in the war-torn country.
State media reported Mr Putin, 70, made a “working trip” to the war-ravaged port city of Mariupol, his first visit to the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine’s Donbas region since the conflict began.
According to The Sun, Mr Putin flew into the city by helicopter, Russian news agencies reported citing the Kremlin.
Russian media broadcast videos showing the Russian leader driving a car at night through a built-up area as well as walking into what media said was the philharmonic, restored in just three months.
Mariupol is in the Donetsk region, one of the four regions Mr Putin moved in September to annex. Kyiv and its Western allies condemned the move as illegal.
The visit triggered an angry reaction from Ukraine, with a presidential aide blasting its “cynicism” and “lack of remorse”.
“The criminal always returns to the crime scene … the murderer of thousands of Mariupol families came to admire the ruins of the city and (its) graves. Cynicism and lack of remorse,” Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhaylo Podolyak said on Twitter.
Russian media reported on Sunday that Mr Putin also met with the top commander of his military operation in Ukraine, including Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov who is in charge of Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
Mr Putin was filmed making stops and talking to residents. In one trip to a new apartment building, Mr Putin told the Ukrainian citizens: “We need to start getting to know each other better.”
However, a number of commentators have cast doubt on whether or not the Russian
President really was in Mariupol, and have suggested that the “residents” he met with were actors.
The Russian leader took a tour of the city and was seen driving a car. The Kremlin said he visited a rebuilt musical theatre and followed the presentation of a report on reconstruction work.
“We’re praying for you,” a resident told Mr Putin, referring to the city as “a little piece of paradise”, according to images broadcast by Russian state TV.
The trip is the closest to the front lines Mr Putin has been since the year-long war began.
Mariupol fell in May after one of the war’s longest and bloodiest battles, marking Russia’s first major victory after it failed to seize Kyiv and focused instead on southeastern Ukraine.
It is believed that the city was chosen deliberately in response for the ISS arrest warrant.
Ukraine claims up to 1,000 of the estimated 14,700 children Russia has abducted since the start of the invasion are from Mariupol.
The Organisation for Security and Cooperation and Europe (OSCE) said Russia’s early bombing of a maternity hospital there was a war crime.
While Mr Zelenskyy has made a number of trips to the battlefield to boost the morale of his troops and talk strategy, Mr Putin has largely remained inside the Kremlin.
In the Nevsky district of Mariupol, Mr Putin visited a family in their home, Russian media reported.
The new residential neighbourhood has been built by the Russian military and the first people moved in last September after it was illegally annexed.
Residents have been “actively” returning, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin, who accompanied Mr Putin, was cited as saying by Russian agencies.
Mariupol had a population of half a million people before the war and was home to the Azovstal steel plant, one of Europe’s largest.
Mr Khusnullin said: “The downtown has been badly damaged.
“We want to finish (reconstruction) of the centre by the end of the year, at least the facade part. The centre is very beautiful.”
Mr Putin has branded Ukrainians “Nazis” in response to the unproven claim by Russia that Kyiv forces “mined” hospital facilities in Mariupol.
It comes after Mr Putin made an appearance in the disputed Ukrainian territory of Crimea on Saturday, as part of celebrations Russia is holding to mark the anniversary of its illegal annexation of the territory in 2014.
In the short clip published on the Russian social media network VK, Putin was seen walking stiffly with his head bowed.
He was shown opening an art school and a children’s centre in the port city of Sevastopol.
The International Criminal Court on Friday accused the Russian tyrant of the “unlawful deportation” of children from Ukraine – a war crime under the Geneva Convention.
Alongside Mr Putin, officials at the ICC charged his children’s commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova, of orchestrating the alleged kidnapping of thousands of children.
Video filmed in February shows Mr Putin and Ms Lvova-Belova casually discussing how she brought back a child from Ukraine.
Mr Putin is seen approving Ms Lvova-Belova’s personal adoption of the boy from Mariupol.
Mr Putin is yet to comment publicly on the ICC warrant, but his trips into Ukrainian territory claimed by Russia have been seen by some observers as an act of defiance.
– with AFP
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