Chinese leader Xi Jinping is preparing to visit the Russian capital, Moscow, and hold a summit with President Vladimir Putin in the coming months, according to the American Wall Street Journal, in light of tension between Washington and Beijing over several files.
The American newspaper quoted people familiar with the visit program as saying that Xi's meeting with Putin is part of what the newspaper called a plan to advance multilateral peace talks and renew China's call not to use nuclear weapons, noting that Beijing wants to play a more active role aimed at ending the conflict in the conflict. Ukraine.
The newspaper report said that preparations for the visit are at an early stage, and a final date has not yet been set, adding that Xi may visit Moscow in April or early May, when Russia celebrates its victory in World War II over Germany.
Fostering a strategic partnership
In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he did not rule out a meeting between the Russian president and the head of the Chinese Communist Party's Foreign Relations Committee, Wang Yi, who started a visit to Moscow on Tuesday after a European tour.
And the Secretary of the Russian Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, announced, on Tuesday, that his country will continue to strengthen the strategic partnership with China, which is an absolute priority for Russia's foreign policy.
During his meeting with Wang Yi, the highest-ranking Chinese diplomat, Patrushev said that relations with China are of intrinsic value and are not subject to external circumstances.
He added that the world is changing, and the transformation of international relations into a multipolar model is facing growing opposition from the West.
He explained that projects beneficial to an exceptionally narrow group of countries are being promoted, to create new military blocs in different regions of the world.
He noted that the United States and its allies are trying to replace the global rules of international law with the so-called rules-based system, adding that all this is being done against Russia and China, as well as at the expense of developing countries.
The Russian official also confirmed that his country stands in solidarity with the Chinese position on regional issues, including Taiwan, Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong, which the West uses to discredit China.
China: the relationship is a priority
For its part, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said that the Chinese official's visit to Moscow aims to strengthen relations between the two countries.
The visit comes in light of the escalating tension between Washington and Beijing over several issues, including Taiwan, espionage and the war in Ukraine.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman accused Washington of spreading false information about supplying Moscow with weapons.
It should be noted that Beijing did not directly support Moscow's "special military operation" in Ukraine, but it condemned Western sanctions against Russia.
Last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, announced a borderless partnership between the two countries.
On Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed his fears of a third world war if China supported Russia in its war against his country.