XI in meeting with his “friend” Putin

Moscow and Beijing seek to strengthen their strategic alliance against the United States, with the war in Ukraine as the central issue.

During the second day of his official visit to Russia, Chinese President Xi Jinping held a meeting on Tuesday, March 21, in the Kremlin, in which he discussed with his counterpart Vladimir Putin the 12-point peace plan, proposed by the Chinese government. , despite the fact that that program was rejected by Kiev and the West.

Xi assured that his nation takes an “impartial” position on the Russian-ordered invasion of Ukraine more than a year ago, saying he supports peace and dialogue.

The program for eventual peace talks, put forward by Beijing, consists of respecting the sovereignty of all countries, abandoning the Cold War mentality, ceasing hostilities, resuming peace talks, resolving the humanitarian crisis, protecting civilians and prisoners of war, preserve the security of nuclear facilities, reduce strategic risks, facilitate grain exports, end unilateral sanctions, keep industrial and supply chains stable, and promote post-conflict reconstruction.

However, reluctance from the West remains, due to the increasing closeness that Beijing shows towards the president isolated by most of the international community, which has called into question the “neutrality” that it ensures it maintains in the face of the conflict. .

In fact, in the last few hours, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg assured that the organization has seen “some signs” that Russia has requested weapons from China. One of the big accusations in the framework of the invasion, which Beijing denies.

“We have not seen any evidence that China is delivering lethal weapons to Russia, but we have seen some signs that it has been a request from Russia, and that this is an issue that the Chinese authorities are considering in Beijing (…) China should not provide lethal aid to Russia, that would be supporting an illegal war,” Stoltenberg remarked from Brussels.

Xi, Putin agree on construction of Siberian Force 2 gas pipeline

The Russian state press highlighted that both leaders signed several documents on “strategic cooperation” on Tuesday.

But the main announcement in this matter came when Vladimir Putin reported that the two countries agreed to build the Siberian Force 2 gas pipeline, which will carry gas from the Siberian region to northwestern China,

“All the agreements have been closed,” said the Russian president, after specifying that once this pipeline comes into operation, it will be able to transport “50,000 million cubic meters of gas” to the Asian giant.

Likewise, Putin assured that his country is ready to help Chinese companies to replace Western companies that left Russia, in retaliation for the war he ordered on February 24, 2022.

“I am convinced that our multifaceted cooperation will continue to develop for the good of the people of our countries,” Putin said in televised remarks to Xi, adding that Russia is a “strategic supplier” of oil, gas and coal to China.

For his part, Xi responded that his nation and Moscow should work more closely to push for more “practical cooperation.”

“You can see the early harvest of (our) cooperation, and progress is being made in further cooperation,” the Chinese president told Putin.

Before their departure from Moscow, scheduled for Wednesday, January 22, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin plan to sign dozens of documents and agreements that seek to strengthen economic and commercial collaboration between the two countries.

The conflict has pushed Moscow to make its economy and exports depend, to a large extent, on China, due to the innumerable sanctions that Western countries have imposed on its products, including gas and oil. And China is interested in participating as a mediator in the war and having the Kremlin as a partner in the face of pressure from Washington, which, according to its postulates, impedes Beijing’s economic growth.

Xi arrived in Moscow on Monday to discuss the proposed ceasefire for Ukraine with the Russian president, at a time when the conflict appears to have stalled at various points on the front lines and when the dead number in the tens of thousands in places like Bakhmut. However, the US government has criticized Xi diplomatically legitimizing Putin and presenting an “unfair” proposal for the interests of Ukraine.

China and Russia do not hide their growing ties of friendship

Despite the moderating role that China has tried to show since the start of the war in Ukraine, Xi does not hide the good relations that the two countries maintain.

The two praised each other at dinner last Monday and called each other “friends,” though they avoided using the word allies. Gestures that Beijing has not had, so far, with the Ukrainian president Volodimir Zelensky, to whom Xi is expected to make a phone call that has not yet been confirmed.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said Putin and Xi had discussed a Chinese proposal calling for a de-escalation and eventual ceasefire in Ukraine on Monday, though he did not elaborate. “There was a very deep exchange of views, a serious conversation,” he said.

Xi maintained that “most countries were committed to easing tensions and wanted to prevent the conflict from escalating.”

One of the biggest uncertainties surrounding the war in Ukraine revolves around the possibility that China will begin supplying Russia with weapons in the conflict, something Beijing has always denied it would do, but which would significantly help Russia’s military effort in Ukraine.

After more than a year of war, the Russian Army and the allied paramilitary group Wagner have suffered innumerable casualties and have begun to complain about the lack of ammunition in conflict centers such as Bakhmut.

The conflict for Russia is becoming entrenched and it is far from achieving the initial purposes that Putin had for it, such as taking over a large part of the Ukrainian territory or overthrowing the Zelenski government. In fact, during the past summer, Russia lost a good part of the territories won from Ukraine. For these reasons, from the West they consider that it is not a good moment to declare a ceasefire in Ukraine, since it would give Putin more time to reorganize his forces and it would give him an advantage when it comes to establishing himself in the territories that he currently has. occupies.

Moscow and Beijing, a marriage of convenience

The truth is that, during these months of war, China has been the Russian lifeline to sustain the war in Ukraine. From Beijing they have tried to ease tensions, but at no time has the Russian invasion been condemned and, in fact, Beijing has become the largest buyer of Russian products during the war. An economic aid that has allowed the Kremlin to circumvent the sanctions and the economic boycott of Moscow by Western countries.

Chinese imports from Russia, mostly oil and gas, rose 49% last year to $76.4 billion, according to customs data. In fact, sources indicate that Russia overtook Saudi Arabia as China’s largest foreign oil supplier in January and February.

China needs mineral and energy resources to be able to keep running its economy at the level that it has done up to now and Russia has them. The rest of the points that Xi and Putin will agree on at their meeting revolve around this issue and that will allow the commercial relationship between the two countries to strengthen.

However, this lifeline in the short term may prove to be counterproductive for Moscow in the long term, since China and Russia compete regionally for dominance in several countries, have a historical relationship riddled with rivalries, and the Kremlin is accepting a secondary role. in the shadow of Chinese power, the only one capable of standing up to the United States.

Russia should be just as concerned about Beijing’s rise to power as Japan, India or the United States, especially since China is directly influencing many of the former Soviet republics that Moscow views as under its sphere of influence and security.

In addition, these two nations have already experienced episodes of high tension in the past, even when they shared a political model. In 1961, Mao’s China and Khrushchev’s Soviet Union broke relations. This issue allowed Beijing to come closer to the United States in the following years and make a common front against the Warsaw Pact and the then Soviet Union.

But for now, this is a far off scenario. China is on track to establish itself as Russia’s biggest trading partner and a necessity to keep its economy afloat. While Russia, which has a much smaller economy than China, runs the risk of becoming the source of resources for Chinese economic growth.

With AP and Reuters