loading…
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin meet in Moscow. Photos/tasks
MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin praised Beijing’s 12-point peace road map for Ukraine, during a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The Chinese leader paid a three-day visit to Moscow, and official talks on Tuesday (22/3/2023) took place in the Kremlin.
“We believe that many of the provisions of the peace plan put forward by China are in harmony with Russia’s stance and can be taken as the basis for a peace settlement when they are ready for it in the West and in Kiev. However, so far we have not seen such readiness on their part,” Putin said.
The Chinese president said Beijing continues to stick to UN principles over the conflict between Moscow and Kiev, maintaining a balanced position.
Xi also repeated his call on all sides to exercise restraint and return to negotiations to find a diplomatic solution to the hostilities.
“We have always been for peace and dialogue, and we firmly stand on the right side of history,” Xi added.
The two leaders met behind closed doors first, with a number of top officials, including Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev and Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, taking part in negotiations on the Russian side.
The meeting was followed by another round of talks with an expanded delegation, involving more government ministers and heads of Russian state companies.
The two leaders welcomed the developing relationship between the two countries, with the Russian president declaring they had reached the “highest level ever”.