Xi May Visit Russia as Early as Next Week, Reuters Reports

Chinese President Xi Jinping may visit Moscow as early as next week, Reuters reported, showing his close ties with Russian leader Vladimir Putin even as Beijing seeks to portray itself as a broker for peace in Ukraine.

(Bloomberg) — Chinese President Xi Jinping may visit Moscow as early as next week, Reuters reported, showing his close ties with Russian leader Vladimir Putin even as Beijing seeks to portray itself as a broker for peace in Ukraine.

There was no immediate official confirmation of the report from either side, though both capitals had said for weeks that a visit was in the works. Putin said in February he was looking forward to hosting Xi in Moscow, and China’s annual National People’s Congress legislative session wrapped up on Monday.

Xi’s visit would come as the US and China remain at odds on a broad range of issues, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Washington has warned Beijing against providing lethal aid to Moscow, something China so far says it has no plans to do.

Although Xi last week accused the US of seeking to encircle and contain China, some of his harshest direct criticism to date, new Premier Li Qiang on Monday appeared to open the door for talks to resume between Washington and Beijing. Xi is expected to soon speak with US President Joe Biden to put the relationship back on track after tensions over an alleged Chinese spy balloon derailed positive momentum following a November summit.

Beijing last month released proposals to achieve peace in Ukraine, its most ambitious diplomatic foray into the conflict, but they were quickly rejected as one-sided by the government in Kyiv and its allies in the US and Europe. Russia welcomed the initiative, which came days after Putin hosted Chinese State Councilor Wang Yi at the Kremlin.

China achieved a major diplomatic win late last week, when it helped facilitate an agreement by Saudi Arabia and Iran to restore diplomatic ties.

At the meeting of Group of 20 foreign ministers in New Delhi in early March, Russia and China rejected wording on the war that had been agreed at the leaders’ summit in Indonesia less than six months before. They teamed up to block India, the host country, from negotiating a compromise.

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