KEY POINTS
- Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian leader Vladimir Putin hold phone call.
- Xi Jinping lauds Russia’s “positive efforts” to defuse the Ukraine crisis.
- Putin updates Xi on recent Russia-US talks in Saudi Arabia.
- Beijing is ready to assist in finding a peaceful resolution to the conflict.
- Xi highlights the deep political and economic partnership between Beijing and Moscow.
- The UN Security Council is set to vote on a US-drafted resolution on Ukraine.
BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday hailed Russia’s “positive efforts” to defuse the Ukraine crisis, days after Moscow and Washington initiated diplomatic talks to end the war in Ukraine, state media reported.
Xi made the remarks when talking to Russian President Vladimir Putin over the phone, Xinhua news agency reported.
This was the second phone call between the two since US President Donald Trump assumed office last month. The timing of the phone call also coincides with the third anniversary of the Russia-Ukraine war which began in February 2022.
The phone call also comes amid a warming up of ties between Moscow and Washington after the top US and Russian diplomats held talks in Saudi Arabia last week.
Russia and the US are holding talks toward the end of the war in Ukraine, while the two sides are also working to operationalize their embassies in Washington and Moscow, which were dysfunctional since the Moscow-Kyiv war began three years ago.
The Chinese President said, “China is happy to see Russia and relevant parties make positive efforts to defuse” the crisis in Ukraine, Xinhua said.
Russia and China enjoy strong bilateral ties. Beijing remains a close political and economic partner of Moscow.
Speaking of China’s ties with Russia, Xi said “history and reality” show the two countries “are good neighbours that cannot be moved away, and true friends who share weal and woe, support each other and achieve common development”, Xinhua reported.
He also said that China-Russia ties enjoy a strong internal driving force and unique strategic value, adding that the relationship does not target any third party nor would it be influenced by any third party.
The Kremlin later said in a statement that Putin “briefed” Xi on the talks between Russian and US officials held in Saudi Arabia last week — their first high-level meeting since the start of the Ukraine war three years ago.
The Chinese side also expressed support for the start of dialogue between Russia and the US as well as its “readiness to assist the search for a peaceful settlement of the Ukraine conflict”, the statement said.
Xinhua said Putin initiated the phone call.
Both sides have made much of Xi and Putin’s supposedly strong personal bond, with Xi calling the Russian leader his “best friend” and Putin lauding his “reliable partner”.
Xi stressed that at the beginning of the overall escalation of the Ukraine crisis, he put forward the “four-should” and other basic proposals for resolving the crisis, Xinhua reported.
In September last year, China and Brazil, together with some countries of the Global South, set up the Group of Friends for Peace on the Ukraine crisis to create an atmosphere and accumulate conditions for promoting the political settlement of the crisis, Xi noted.
The two sides also agreed to maintain communication and coordination through various means.
Earlier, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said that China will continue to play a constructive role in promoting the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis.
Lin said China’s position on the Ukraine crisis is consistent and clear. Since the escalation of the crisis, China has been in communication with all relevant parties, committed to building consensus for the ceasefire and paving the way for peace talks, the spokesperson said.
China will always stand firmly on the side of peace, uphold an objective and just position, and continue to work with the international community to play a constructive role in promoting the political settlement of the crisis, Lin said.
Meanwhile, the UN Security Council will vote today on the draft resolution on Ukraine tabled by the United States.
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The United States for the first time refused to be a co-author of a draft anti-Russian resolution of the UN General Assembly for Ukraine and the document proposed by it does not contain accusations of Russia concerning the start of the conflict.
The text also expresses sorrow in connection with the tragic death of people in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and urges for its soonest end.
Earlier reports said the United States can propose that the UN Security Council votes on its draft resolution for the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine.
The text of the draft US resolution was handed over to representatives of Security Council member-countries on February 21, TASS news agency reported.
