Xi Jinping in Moscow: In a major development, Chinese President Xi Jinping landed in Russia for a state visit, state media confirmed. According to the Russian news agency TASS, the Chinese leader landed at Moscow's Vnukovo airport around 12:59 Moscow time.
Notably, this is the first meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin with any global leader since the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for his atrocities on children in war-torn Ukraine.
Xi Jinping's plans
Although China has not revealed any plans for the negotiations nor has it mentioned what President Xi will accomplish in the latest visit, it had released a 12-pointers last month wherein it hoped to broker the peace deal. Subsequently, after the plan was unveiled, Moscow hailed the Chinese peace proposals.
Meanwhile, the visit is also considered crucial as the ICC had issued an arrest warrant against Putin. Putin has yet to comment on the announcement, but the Kremlin rejected the move as “outrageous and unacceptable.”
What does China want from Russia?
Moreover, the experts also point out that Xi Jinping's visit is aimed to negotiate an energy deal, amid the fact that Moscow remains one of the largest exporters of crude oil and gas.
Furthermore, Putin likely would seek favour from his Chinese counterpart as it is losing its lethal ammunition in the ongoing war.
The visit also comes at a time when the United States accused Russian warplanes of downing its drone-- a claim that the latter has rejected multiple times. Earlier last week, Russia's President's spokesperson Dmitry Peskov acknowledged that the two countries were in the "lowest" state of the relationship but maintained Moscow did not want to engage in further conflict.
Also Read: As Zelenskyy warns of World War III, China offers to mediate Russia-Ukraine war peace negotiations
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