Chinese President Xi tells Russian President Putin all sides should work to resolve Ukraine crisis

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Chinese President Xi Jinping told Russian leader Vladimir Putin Wednesday that all sides should work toward resolving the crisis in Ukraine “in a responsible manner.”

“China is willing to continue to play a role in this regard,” Mr. Xi said in a phone call.

Despite intense international pressure, Beijing has refused to condemn Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and has repeatedly called for a negotiated settlement. China claims neutrality in the war, but Mr. Xi has yet to speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and Chinese diplomats and state media frequently boost Russian propaganda and disinformation.

In the lead-up to the invasion, Mr. Putin travelled to Beijing for the Winter Olympics, where he met with Mr. Xi. They released a joint statement blasting NATO expansion and criticizing the West. After Russian troops rolled into Ukraine, Chinese Foreign Affairs Minister Wang Yi said ties between Russia and China remained “rock solid.”

Last week, the two countries opened a new cross-border bridge in the far east that they hope will boost trade, which is vital to Moscow’s ability to withstand sweeping Western sanctions imposed in the wake of the war.

“The economic and trade co-operation between the two countries has been advancing steadily,” Mr. Xi told Mr. Putin, according to a readout of the call released by state media.

He added that the US$369-million Heihe-Blagoveshchensk bridge would be a “new channel for connectivity between the two countries.”

“The Chinese side is willing to work with the Russian side to promote the steady and long-term development of bilateral pragmatic co-operation,” Mr. Xi said.

“China is willing to, together with Russia, continue to support each other on issues concerning core interests and major concerns such as sovereignty and security, [and] intensify strategic co-ordination between the two countries.”

Given the publicly close relationship between China and Russia, and the two leaders’ meeting in Beijing ahead of the invasion, there has been widespread speculation about whether Mr. Xi was briefed about Mr. Putin’s invasion plans.

U.S. officials have said this was the case and also asserted that Moscow later requested military equipment from China, which does not seem to have been provided.

Writing in The Washington Post in March, Chinese Ambassador Qin Gang denied both reports, saying, “Assertions that China knew about, acquiesced to or tacitly supported this war are purely disinformation.”

“China is the biggest trading partner of both Russia and Ukraine, and the largest importer of crude oil and natural gas in the world,” he wrote. “Conflict between Russia and Ukraine does no good for China. Had China known about the imminent crisis, we would have tried our best to prevent it.”

The war in Ukraine has further strained relations between Washington and Beijing, which were already struggling despite initial hopes for a reset under U.S. President Joe Biden.

It has also increased pressure on the U.S. to provide greater support for Taiwan, with many analysts warning China might see Russia’s moves in Europe as a model for seizing the self-ruled island.

Speaking this week, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he couldn’t “speculate on what China will do or won’t do” when it comes to Taiwan.

“Ultimately, what we’re doing is to try to shape the environment in which they’re acting so that that may have an influence on what – on their decisions,” he said. “One of the things I think that China has to factor into any calculus is the response that we’ve seen to Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, and so many countries coming together to stand against that aggression, both by making sure that Ukraine had the support that it needed and also making sure that Russia paid a price for the aggression.”

With files from Alexandra Li and Reuters.

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