Xi with Putin: What the Chinese President’s visit means

Politics

Will be China now officially side with Russia? This question comes up again and again, including now that China’s President Xi Jinping is visiting Moscow. A few days after it came out that China Russia with Waffen and drones supported.

For Putin, who now has an arrest warrant for war crimes in the Ukraine by the International Criminal Court in The Hague, the timing of the long-planned visit is opportune. By visiting the powerful friend who, like Russia, USA as the mastermind behind the conflict in Ukraine, Putin wants to show once again that he is not isolated internationally.

The International Criminal Court in The Hague has issued an arrest warrant for the Russian President.Image: IMAGO/Wolfgang Maria Weber

But what does the visit from Beijing really mean? Watson asked the China expert Temur Umarov this question. He conducts research at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace with a focus on China, Russia and Central Asia.

A good time for Putin

The visit takes place against the background of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. According to the Kremlin, the three-day talks are about developing relations into an all-encompassing partnership and strategic cooperation between Russia and China. Putin and Xi have met about 40 times over the years.

The guest from Beijing comes in handy for Putin because he can show that he is not internationally isolated. China has not condemned the war against Ukraine and is committed to peace negotiations. It is also the first visit since an arrest warrant was issued against Putin for war crimes in Ukraine.

Moscow visit: diplomacy instead of war

China expert Umarov does not expect Xi to get too involved in the war. China does not support Russia or Ukraine. According to the expert, the visit should be seen much more as part of the diplomatic tradition. He says: “I think that above all, China wants to maintain the diplomatic tradition of visiting Russia.”

It is a diplomatic tradition of the two countries that Xi Jinping visits Moscow every two years and Putin visits Beijing every two years. Also that Xi Jinping after the meeting in Moscow Video Summit with the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that China still wants to remain neutral, says Umarov. “As neutral as possible,” he concedes.

Xi Jinping probably wants to talk to Zelenskyy after his visit to Russia.Bild: Planet Pix via ZUMA Press Wire / Ukraine Presidency

For this reason, Umarov does not expect the Chinese president to say anything concrete about the Russian invasion. Rather, he expects Xi Jinping to ignore the war. “And if he were to say anything about it, he would only be pointing out the importance of confronting the US and creating a fair international order where everyone is heard,” says the expert.

Umarov therefore does not expect that the visit to Moscow will change anything in China’s position on the Ukraine war.

(With material from dpa)