In his visit to Russia from Monday to Wednesday, the Chinese president Xi Jinping will consolidate its relationships with Vladimir Putinpartners more and more employee from China but also increasingly unpredictable. “A mission for peace“, Beijing Foreign Ministry Qin Gang said on Friday. Strength of the unedited third term consecutive at the head of the People’s Republic, after the equally historic third secretariat in the ranks of the Communist Party, Xi has decided to start the cycle of visits abroad of his second decade in power from Moscow, just as he did ten years ago once he conquered the top of the state. The next few days will be his fortieth meeting with Putin, to underline the importance of the understanding between the two countries. But the trip threatens to jeopardize other goals of Xi’s foreign policy, such as avoiding theescalation of the tension with the United States and to protect and enhance economic and commercial relations with theEuropean Union. In fact, the Dragon still needs access to Western markets, technology and capital to return to scoring one robust growththe real source of legitimacy of the Communist Party.
Russia, on the other hand, is increasingly dependent on China for the purchase of petrolium And gas in the face of Western sanctions, but claims its autonomous ability to manoeuvre. “Just before Xi’s state visit began, Putin made his first trip to the occupied Ukrainian city of Mariupolmore than symbolic for the Russian invasion, in another apparent attempt to underline Beijing’s support”, he stresses at theHandle a diplomatic source. Rather than push Putin to withdraw from Ukraine, some observers say Xi will use the meeting to develop the bilateral strategic partnership. In order to strengthen the image of a neutral party interested in peace – the Wall Street Journal – the Chinese president should then speak in virtual mode with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky for the first time since the start of the invasion, probably after his trip to Moscow. The White House is preparing for the visit in a wait-and-see position: “We’ll see what emerges from this meeting,” says White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby. However, a possible request for a truce in Ukraine is considered “unacceptable“, because it would mean “ratifying the conquests made up to now by Russia” and “allow more time to Putin”.
Since Moscow attacked Kiev, Beijing has avoided any conviction by keeping one ambiguous position and at the end of February he presented to the international community a 12-point peace plan, which asks, among other things, to “respect the sovereignty of all countries”, “abandon the Cold War mentality” and stop with “unilateral sanctions”. Any significant distance from Moscow would have a knockback that China cannot afford: it is possible that the Communist leadership is seeking a better balance between the twin objectives of achieving stability in relations with Europe and ensure that Russia don’t lose the war, remaining aligned with China, essential for the government’s plans for new world arrangements to the detriment of the United States. “Xi will refuse to put his name on anything that might cause a economic backlash to the West“, explains the diplomatic source. While Hu Xijinformer director of the Global Times – nationalist tabloid controlled by the Chinese government – wrote on Twitter that “the US provides the reason and energy to continue the Ukrainian war”. Instead, China “provides the rationality and the hope to end it”.