Washington condemned the meeting of the Chinese president with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is accused of war crimes, and has indicated that in this way Beijing provides diplomatic cover to Moscow for new war crimes, writes Reuters.
Xi Jinping’s visit to Russia is his first foreign visit since repeatedly taking office as China’s president in early March. In footage of the meeting shown on Russian television, Putin said he respected Beijing’s plan for a settlement in Ukraine. At the same time, Xi praised Putin and predicted that Russian citizens would re-elect him next year.
Moscow has been talking about Xi’s visit for months, but after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Putin, the visit took on a different tone. Moscow denies accusations of illegal removal of Ukrainian children to Russia and has stated that it wanted to protect the orphans. Russia has started a criminal case against ICC prosecutors and judges.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said: «That President Xi is traveling to Russia days after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for President Putin suggests that
China feels no responsibility to hold the Kremlin accountable for the atrocities committed in Ukraine.»
White House spokesman John Kirby said Xi should use his influence to force Putin to leave Ukraine. However, Washington was worried that Beijing would rather offer a truce, which would mean the Russian army remaining on the territory of Ukraine.
China has drawn up a proposal to resolve the war situation, but the West has criticized it as a plan to buy Putin time to regroup. Washington has expressed concern that China could help Putin with weapons, but Beijing denies this.
As Putin hosted Xi, broadcaster NHK showed footage of Japanese Prime Minister
Fumio Kisida boarding a train bound for Kyiv at the Polish border.
It is planned that the Prime Minister will meet with the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday, the 21st of March.
On Monday, the 20th of March, several European Union countries agreed to jointly purchase and hand over one million artillery shells to Ukraine. The US has announced the largest shipment of military aid to Ukraine so far. Its value is 350 million dollars, and the shipment also includes ammunition for HIMARS systems and Bradley armored vehicles.
Fierce fighting continues in Ukraine, especially around Bakhmut. Ukrainian military expert and reserve colonel of the armed forces Oleh Zhdanov has stated that there have been fewer attacks than usual around the front line. «This could be linked to the visit to Moscow by the Chinese leader. Why? Because Putin is hardly likely to put aggression on display on the front lines, particularly as China has spoken in favor of a ceasefire and of an end to the war. So this is likely to continue throughout his two-day visit.»
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