Putin hails ‘good old friend’ Xi Jinping ahead of first Moscow meeting since Ukraine invasion

Vladimir Putin has said he will welcome his “good old friend” Xi Jinping later as the Chinese president visits Moscow to highlighted China’s “willingness to play a constructive role” in Ukraine.

The visit means Mr Xi will have the dubious distinction of being the first world leader to shake Mr Putin’s hand after an arrest warrant was issued for the Russian president on 17 March over the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia.

Mr Xi’s visit will also be the first he has made to Russia since the beginning of the Ukraine invasion.

The leaders will meet one-on-one on Monday and have an informal lunch later. Mr Putin said Russia has high hopes over the Chinese leader’s visit.

“We are grateful for the balanced line of [China] in connection with the events taking place in Ukraine, for understanding their background and true causes,” he wrote in an article for a Chinese newspaper on Sunday.

“We welcome China’s willingness to play a constructive role in resolving the crisis.”

Mr Xi, in turn, published an article in the Russian government’s newspaper, Rossiiskaya Gazeta, calling for “pragmatism” on the issue of Ukraine.

China has so far tried to maintain distance from Mr Putin’s invasion. While Mr Xi’s article devoted only a paragraph to the Ukraine invasion, he was more liberal in his praise for Russia-China relations and said the country remains an invaluable partner to Beijing.

He spoke of the need for strengthening the friendship between Russia and China in a world threatened by “acts of hegemony, despotism, and bullying”.

“In the past 10 years, I have visited Russia eight times, each time setting out with excitement and coming back with rich results, opening a new chapter in Chinese-Russian relations with President Putin,” he wrote.

“Chinese-Russian friendship has long endured and must be cherished even more.”

Analysts say Mr Xi’s willingness to visit Russia is symbolic of their ongoing close alliance, coming as Moscow finds itself otherwise increasingly isolated on the world stage.

Nonetheless, Chinese state media reports have downplayed the likelihood of any particular breakthrough emerging from the talks.

The Chinese president said his broad 12-point framework for trying to end fighting in Ukraine, published last month, reflects global views and seeks to “neutralise consequences” from the conflict, but acknowledged the solutions were not easy.

Western leaders have generally been sceptical about China’s rhetoric on the issue and have accused the country of declining to condemn Russia and instead providing it with an economic lifeline as other countries heap on sanctions.

The country’s proposal was criticised for containing only general statements and no concrete detail on how to end the year-long war which has claimed tens of thousands of lives and forced millions to flee.

Ukraine’s president Volodmyr Zelensky said he would welcome the chance to discuss the proposals with Mr Xi, but Kyiv has repeatedly stated that it will not accept any peace deal that leaves Ukrainian territory in Russian hands.

Additional reporting by agencies