- James Gregory
- BBC News
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that China’s peace plan for Ukraine could be the basis for ending the current war.
But Putin said the plan could only go ahead when “the West and Kiev” were ready.
The Russian leader met Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday in Moscow to discuss the conflict in Ukraine and relations between the two countries.
China revealed its plan last month, but did not explicitly call for Russia to withdraw from Ukraine.
The plan contained 12 points, calling for peace talks and respect for national sovereignty, without making specific proposals.
But Ukraine has insisted that Russia withdraw from its territory as a condition for any peace talks, and there is no indication that Russia is ready to withdraw.
On Monday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said calling for a cease-fire before Russia’s withdrawal “would effectively support acknowledgment of the Russian invasion.”
“Many provisions of the Chinese peace plan can be taken as the basis for settling the conflict in Ukraine, whenever the West and Kiev are ready for this,” Putin said at a joint press conference after the end of talks with the Chinese president.
He added that Russia had not yet seen such “readiness” from the other side.
Standing by Putin at the press conference, President Xi Ping said that his government stands for peace and dialogue and that China stands on the “correct side of history.”
Xi Ping again claimed that China had a “neutral position” on the conflict in Ukraine, and sought to portray Beijing as a potential peacemaker.
The two leaders also discussed the growth of trade, energy and political relations between the two countries.
Putin stressed that “China is Russia’s main trading partner” and vowed to continue and surpass the “high level” of trade achieved last year.
According to official Russian media, the two leaders agreed on several points as well:
– Two joint documents were signed, one detailing plans for economic cooperation, and the other on plans to deepen the Russian-Chinese partnership.
– The two sides reached an agreement on a pipeline planned in Siberia to carry Russian gas to China via Mongolia.
Putin and Xi Ping agreed that a nuclear war “should never begin.”
They also discussed their concerns about the new Ocus, a defense agreement between Australia, Britain and the United States that includes the provision of nuclear submarines to Australia.
They expressed concern about NATO’s growing presence in Asia on “military and security issues”.
“We haven’t seen any evidence that China is providing lethal weapons to Russia, but we have seen some indications that there is indeed a request from Russia, and that this is an issue being studied by the Chinese authorities in Beijing,” NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels.
A joint statement issued by China and Russia after the meeting between the two leaders said the close partnership between the two countries did not constitute a “military-political alliance.”
They added that the relations “do not constitute a bloc, do not have a confrontational nature, and are not directed against third countries.”
Putin also used the press conference to accuse the West of spreading weapons with a “nuclear component” and said Russia would be “forced to respond” if Britain sent depleted uranium bombs to Ukraine.
Britain’s Ministry of Defense said depleted uranium was an “essential component” unrelated to nuclear weapons.
The Chinese president received a rapturous welcome when he arrived in the Kremlin for the second day of talks, on Tuesday.
He said he was “very happy” to be in Moscow, and described the talks with President Putin as “frank, open and friendly”.
His visit to Russia comes days after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for President Putin on allegations of war crimes.
In exchange for the Chinese president’s state visit to Moscow, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida paid a surprise visit to Kiev, making him the first Japanese leader to visit a country in a state of armed conflict since World War II.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he would join the G7 summit in Japan in May via video link at Kishida’s invitation.
He said at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon that he had also asked China to participate in the talks but was waiting for a response.
He added, “We offered China to become a partner in implementing the peace formula. We invite you to dialogue, and we are waiting for your response.”