President Xi Jinping Visits Russia And Meet Vladimir Putin Next Week, Discusses Ukraine War Peace?

President Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin. (Wikimedia Commons/Kremlin.ru)

JAKARTA - Chinese President Xi Jinping will make state visits to Russia from 20-22 March at President Vladimir Putin's invitation, the Kremlin's press service said in a statement on Friday.

According to the statement, the two leaders will discuss "urgent issues related to the future of comprehensive partnership relations and strategic interactions between Russia and China."

In addition, the two leaders are also expected to exchange views on how to increase Russia-Chinese cooperation on the international stage. The Kremlin's press service also said, "a number of important bilateral documents will be signed" during the Chinese leader's visit, reported TASS March 17.

Putin and Xi Jinping last met face-to-face on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Samarkand City, Uzbekistan in September 2022. At the end of December, Putin held a video conference call with Xi Jinping, inviting him to make a state visit to Moscow in the spring of 2023.

In his congratulations on Xi Jinping's re-elect for the third time as President of China, Putin said he would continue to coordinate on key issues, confident he would be able to increase cooperation between the two countries in various fields.

The announcement was made when China was lifting efforts to end the war in Ukraine which received a warm welcome from Kyiv and Moscow.

China last month published a 12-point plan for "Ukraine crisis political resolution". The plan calls for the protection of civilians and for Russia and Ukraine to respect each other's sovereignty.

However, the United States and NATO say Beijing's efforts to mediate are credible, as it has refrained from condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow calls a "special military operation".

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said President Xi's visit to Russia - the first in nearly four years - was partly to promote "peace", although he did not explicitly mention the Ukraine war.

He said leaders would also exchange opinions on regional and international key issues, strengthen bilateral trust and deepen economic partnerships.

It said President Xi would make a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky after his visit to Russia, according to several media reports. However, Beijing has not confirmed plans for the call.

China and Russia announced an "infinity" partnership in February 2022, when President Putin visited Beijing for the opening of the Winter Olympics, days before he sent tens of thousands of troops to Ukraine, sparking the biggest conflict in Europe since the Second World War.

Ukraine has questioned Beijing's proposal not to state that Russia should step down behind the border since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, although it later said it was open to "part of the plan".

Russia welcomes Beijing's initiative, saying it will make a "study" of the plan, but also said it saw no signs of a peaceful resolution for now.

Moscow said Ukraine should accept its annexation of four regions in the east and south of the country along with the disappearance of Crimea, the forced Black Sea peninsula in 2014.