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A Visit to the Unknown: Xi Jinping in Moscow
President Xi Jinping arrived in Moscow for his first visit to the Russian Federation since his counterpart Vladimir Putin launched the full scale invasion of Ukraine. The Chinese leader began his visit to the Russian capital with an informal evening meeting with Vladimir Putin, which lasted four and a half hours. It’s quite unusual for an official visit when all the protocol activities are scheduled by the minute. Most of the meeting was closed to the press. The next day, the two leaders met at the Grand Kremlin Palace.
The talks did not bring any sensations, given that at the end of the meeting in the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin suggested taking China’s peace plan for Ukraine as a basis.
The plan proposed by Beijing on February 24, the anniversary of the start of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, consists of 12 points. Chinese diplomats believe that time has come to stop hostilities and abandon “the Cold War mentality.” China proposed to start peace talks, resolve the humanitarian crisis, end unilateral sanctions, as well as to guarantee the export of Ukrainian grain and reduce global strategic risks. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has already criticized this plan.
The Chinese leader made it clear that Russia’s military defeat (much less its victory), which would mean a tectonic shift in the global world, is…