Xi invites despite arrest warrant
Putin should come to Beijing
03/21/2023, 1:35 p.m
The international arrest warrant against the Kremlin boss does not prevent Xi Jinping from inviting Putin to a return visit. In Moscow, the two talk about the Chinese “peace proposal”. For economic cooperation, Putin sends another interlocutor.
China’s head of state and party leader Xi Jinping has invited Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin to a return visit to Beijing. At a meeting with the Russian leader in Moscow, Xi Jinping said, “I invite you to visit China as soon as possible.” Putin is also welcome in the People’s Republic this year. An international arrest warrant for war crimes in Ukraine has been in place for the Kremlin chief since last week. However, China and Russia do not recognize the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.
Xi remains in Moscow for a three-day state visit until Wednesday. After the meeting with Mishustin, a new round of talks with Putin was on the agenda. It was also about the Beijing government’s “peace proposal” for Ukraine, as the Russian government announced. It was a “thorough” exchange of views. Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov gave no details. The two heads of state had already spoken to each other for several hours on Monday.
According to official information, the meeting with Mishustin mainly dealt with questions of economic cooperation. The head of government put the value of bilateral investment projects at the equivalent of more than 154 billion euros. Mishustin also called for a land corridor for grain and other agricultural goods from Russia to China.
Xi speaks of “major neighboring powers”
For Xi, relations with Russia will remain a “priority” in the future. Chinese Premier Li Qiang will “continue to prioritize the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Russia,” Xi said at the meeting with Mishustin, according to Russian news agencies. He called Russia and China “big neighboring powers”.
In the course of the negotiations on the extension of the grain agreement with Ukraine, Moscow recently complained that Western sanctions were hindering the shipment of Russian agricultural goods. China is a close ally of Russia. Beijing has not condemned his war of aggression against Ukraine. At the same time, China has positioned itself as a mediator. The West fears that China could supply arms to the neighboring country.