Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping began a meeting in Moscow on Monday, aimed at strengthening the alliance between Beijing and Moscow against the West.
The Russian president told his Chinese counterpart in the Kremlin that he had seen China's proposals to resolve the conflict in Ukraine and viewed them with respect and interest. Putin said his country was "always open to the negotiation process and respects the Chinese plan on Ukraine."
Speaking at Kremlin talks at the start of Xi's state visit to Moscow, Putin said Russia "envies" China a bit for its rapid development in past decades.
Putin told Xi Jinping that "the Chinese state has become stronger under your administration," praising Beijing's "balanced positions on regional and international issues."
For his part, the Chinese president stressed his country's interest in developing relations with Russia "because we are neighbors and strategic partners," noting that the two countries "have similar goals and we are working to develop relations between us."
Russia "has been able to achieve great success in the development of the country, and its people firmly support their president," Xi said, stressing the need to work together "to achieve all goals of justice and equality in the world."
Strengthening relationships
The Chinese president arrived in Russia for a 3-day visit to enhance strategic cooperation between the two countries.
At the start of his visit, the Chinese president said his country was ready to stand firmly by Russia to safeguard international law, adding that the visit would be "fruitful and give a new impetus to strengthening relations with Russia."
Commenting on the visit, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said Kiev hoped Chinese President Xi Jinping would use his "influence" with the Russian president to "stop" Russia's war on Ukraine.
Nikolenko said shortly after Xi Jinping's arrival in Moscow that "Ukraine is closely following the Chinese president's visit to Russia. We expect Beijing to use its influence on Moscow to stop the war of aggression against Ukraine."
Britain said it "hoped" the Chinese president would urge his Russian counterpart to stop the war and "atrocities" in Ukraine during his visit to Moscow.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's spokesman said after Xi Jinping's arrival in Moscow: "We hope that President Xi will use this opportunity to urge President Putin to stop bombing cities, hospitals and schools in Ukraine, and put an end to the atrocities we witness daily."