"Pragmatic peacemaker" and best friend: world media about Xi's visit to Moscow

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Moscow on a three-day visit. Formerly CHINApresented his peace plan for Ukraine.How the world media assess the arrival of the Chinese leader in RUSSIA - in the RBC review

The Guardian, UK

“Xi <…> is well aware of the stakes of his visit. it will be widely interpreted as a show of support for Putin, whom Xi calls his best friend. But Xi will also want to show the world that he can be a deterrent to Putin, for example by keeping him from deploying nuclear weapons on the battlefield in Ukraine.

It was also reported that Xi is planning a phone call with Volodymyr Zelensky. The call will in part be an attempt to "balance the negative impact his visit to Moscow will have" on Xi's relationship with the West...

Xi is trying to play the role of a global statesman. On Monday last week, he urged China to play a bigger role in global relations following a deal between Saudi Arabia and Iran to restore diplomatic ties, a move that China sees as a victory over US influence in the Middle East . Xi said China will bring "positive energy for international peace and development."

In March, Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed to resume diplomatic relations and reopen embassies after several days of trilateral talks in Beijing. The countries severed ties in 2016 following the execution of 47 convicts in Saudi Arabia for involvement in terrorism, including Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, a member of the country's Shia minority. The execution of the preacher caused outrage in Shiite countries, including Iran.

CNN, usa

“Xi will have to tread carefully during his visit to Moscow. At stake for the Chinese leader is whether he can both strengthen ties with a partner China sees as critical to countering what it sees as US dominance and not alienate a Europe that is increasingly wary of Sino-Russian relations.

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China Daily, China

“The fact that Chinese President Xi Jinping will pay a state visit to Russia from Monday to Wednesday has prompted many in the West, including the media, to speculate about the timing and reasons for the visit. In a sense, the excitement surrounding <…> the meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin testifies to the great importance that the international community attaches to this visit.

Perhaps the high price some countries are paying for the Ukraine crisis has raised international expectations that China will be able to restart the peace process to end the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. China's success in brokering a rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran has raised hopes that it can do the same with Russia and Ukraine, especially since Beijing has open channels of communication with both countries. <...>

The visit can help Ukraine and Russia maintain hope for dialogue and leave the door open for a political settlement, because China refuses to take sides in the conflict and remains committed to helping restore peace, calling on the international community to create favorable conditions for peaceful dialogue.

Notably, this is Xi's first state visit since he was elected Chinese leader for a third term; Russia  was the point for his first state visit when he first became HEAD of state ten years ago. The visit, in addition to deepening mutual trust between the two countries and promoting their comprehensive strategic partnership, will also aim to restore peace in Eurasia. So those who try to distort this visit and look for too much hidden meaning in the Sino-Russian accord are only revealing their true colors as supporters of conspiracy theories and hegemony.”

Suddeutsche Zeitung, Germany

“Beijing criticized the decision of The Hague [ICC arrest warrant for Putin] even before Xi Jinping landed, calling for respect for the “immunity of heads of state” in accordance with international law. It sounded almost like a gift to Putin. For many reasons, he now more than ever depends on the support of China. Putin needs Xi to show inside and outside Russia that he still has powerful friends. He may also interpret the Chinese visit as the tacit legitimacy of his “special operation,” which Xi has never publicly criticized. <…>

But there are signs that China's support for Moscow is far from unconditional. For example, after his visit to Moscow, Xi is also expected to speak by phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. So far, there has also been little evidence that China is supplying Russia with weapons on a large scale, which is feared in the West. <...> Economic cooperation is likely to be more decisive for Putin. China buys Russian gas and oil that Europe no longer wants to buy. At the same time, Putin hopes to be able to buy from China what he can no longer get in the West due to sanctions, primarily high-tech goods such as microchips, which neither the industry nor the army can do without.

The New York Times, USA

“Chinese officials are presenting his trip as a peace mission in which he will seek to “play a constructive role in facilitating negotiations” between Russia and Ukraine, as a government spokesman in Beijing put it. But US and European officials are watching something very different - whether Mr. Xi will add fuel to the full-scale war that Mr. Putin launched more than a year ago.

...In an article published in a Russian newspaper on Sunday, Mr. Xi wrote that China has made "efforts to promote reconciliation and peace talks." Skepticism about one of Xi's stated goals permeates opinion in Washington and in some European capitals. US intelligence agencies have concluded that relations between China and Russia have deepened during the war, even though Russia has been isolated from many other countries...

They worked alongside Russian diplomats to block international statements condemning the war, including at the G20 meetings in India in February and March. <…> China's 12-point peace plan unveiled last month was an attempt to create a smokescreen of neutrality while planning Xi's trip, some analysts say."

Al Jazeera, Qatar

“The visit of Xi, who was recently re-elected for an unprecedented third term as leader of the PRC and who is seeking a greater role for Beijing on the world stage, raised hope in some circles for a breakthrough in ending the war in Ukraine <...> Hopes have arisen not only thanks to the mediation of China in détente of Saudi-Iranian relations, as well as the proposal for a truce and dialogue between Moscow and Kiev, but also thanks to media reports of Xi's plans to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky remotely. <...> At the same time, most experts believe that Xi's state visit is more about strengthening the "borderless" partnership he announced with Putin last year than mediating peace in Ukraine. <...>

China, despite Western skepticism about its ability to mediate honestly, seems to be in a better position than most countries to mediate a war. After all, China is Russia's most important ally. <...> According to some analysts, China's influence on Russia, as well as its desire to be perceived as a third force in world politics, may push Xi to put pressure on Putin for "mini steps" towards a truce and dialogue in Ukraine ".

The Financial Times, UK

“The Real Meaning of Xi’s Visit to Putin”

Russia's China's leaders are meeting again amid fears of nuclear war. In Moscow in 1957, Mao urged the audience to reflect on the positive aspects of nuclear conflict: "If the worst happens and half of humanity perishes, the other half will remain, imperialism will be wiped off the face of the earth, and the whole world will become socialist." Even for the Soviet audience it was strong. Xi, on the contrary, will present himself in Moscow as a peaceful person. He arrives enjoying a real diplomatic achievement, China-brokered Iran-Saudi rapprochement. China also recently put forward a 12-point peace plan to resolve the war in Ukraine. It is possible that while in Moscow, Xi will offer an immediate ceasefire. After the summit with Vladimir Putin, the Chinese leader is likely to call Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Zelensky will no doubt answer the call. Xi has huge influence over Putin if he wants to take advantage of it. But Zelensky and the Western coalition backing Ukraine will also be skeptical of China's peace proposals. The reality is that Xi is unlikely to be willing or able to see an end to the wars in Ukraine. <…>

However, it is useful for Xi to present China as a pragmatic peacemaker – primarily interested in trade and shared prosperity. America, by contrast, is portrayed by China as an ideological warmonger, dividing the world into friend and foe and obsessed with maintaining its own hegemony. This narrative is helping China fight for public opinion in the "global south" - and this worries Americans. But behind the talk of peace, the essence of the Xi-Putin summit will move in the opposite direction. <…>

The big question is which ties Xi sees as beneficial to China. In the economic part, everything is simple. As the West weans off Russian energy, China is able to buy oil and gas at discounted prices. <…> Any tension between Russia and China will be hidden from view. Some US strategists hope that one day they will be able to engineer a second rift between Moscow and Beijing, similar to the one that brought the US and China closer together in the 1970s. But now it seems even more distant than China's successful Ukraine peace initiative. Photographs of Xi and Putin together will send a clear message. Russia and China remain close partners — bound by shared hostility towards America and its allies.”

Hurriyet, Turkey

The three-day trip comes after an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal COURT against Russian President Vladimir Putin. After such a court decision, the appearance of the leader of the world's second largest economy shoulder to shoulder with Putin is seen as an important support. Beijing accused the International Criminal Court, which issued the arrest warrant for the Russian leader, of applying "double standards" and said that "heads of state have immunity from prosecution under international law." <...>

The visit comes amid mounting accusations from Western countries, especially Washington, that China is "participating in the war." Beijing, which denies accusations of supplying weapons to Russia, wants to position itself as an intermediary. China, whose economy is linked to Western countries, is much more vulnerable to possible Western sanctions compared to Russia.”