Putin’s comments came at a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Uzbekistan on Thursday, the first time the two have met in person since the Kremlin launched its all-out invasion of Ukraine in February. “We highly appreciate the balanced position of our Chinese friends when it comes to the Ukraine crisis,” Putin told Xi, according to a Kremlin transcript. “We understand your questions and concerns about this. During today’s meeting, of course, we will explain our position, although we have also talked about this in the past.” Putin arrived in Uzbekistan as Russian forces in northeastern Ukraine were forced to retreat by a Kiev counteroffensive that recaptured significant territory, boosting Ukrainian morale and raising questions about whether Moscow can sustain its offensive. “There are setbacks for Russia on the ground in Ukraine and now also on the diplomatic front,” said Nigel Gould-Davies, senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a think tank in London. Russia has often fended off claims that it is isolating itself globally, pointing to increasingly close economic and political ties with China and other non-Western nations. China and Russia had previously been careful to avoid any public suggestion of differences over the invasion, which Putin unleashed just weeks after meeting Xi in Beijing, when the two said cooperation between their nations had “no limits” . However, China has been repeatedly criticized by the US and its allies for refusing to condemn the invasion. In a statement about Thursday’s meeting, China’s foreign ministry made no mention of Ukraine or Beijing’s concerns. The ministry said Xi had told Putin that China would “cooperate with Russia to fulfill its responsibilities as major countries” and “provide strong mutual support on issues concerning each other’s core interests.” Alexander Gabuev, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said: “Xi has probably expressed some concerns with the Russians: ‘Oh, we really want this war to end. It’s disruptive to the global economy and you have to do something about it.” And then Putin was reacting to it.” Evan Medeiros, a China expert at Georgetown University, said Putin’s comments were highly significant given Beijing’s recent flirtation. “This statement is a strange and stark change for Putin, who has spent the past six months trying to bring China closer to Ukraine,” said Medeiros, who served as a top adviser to former US President Barack Obama. for Asia. Putin and Xi were in Samarkand for a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a Eurasian political and security forum. Speaking about their last face-to-face meeting in Beijing in early February, Putin said: “A lot has happened since then.” However, he added that the friendship between China and Russia “remained stable.” Gould-Davies said the war in Ukraine had many unintended consequences for Beijing and that it was a mistake to believe that Western nations’ response to the invasion would push China and Russia together. “The opposite is happening. This war creates new difficulties in the Sino-Russian relationship,” he said. Raffaello Pantucci, a senior fellow at Singapore’s S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, said it was “no secret that the Chinese were not ecstatic” about the Ukraine war, with the resulting disruption in energy markets and food price inflation. “This is very negative for them and the Russians understand that,” Paducci said. “It is respectful to acknowledge these issues publicly.” While the US and EU have stepped up pressure on other countries to crack down on Russian efforts to evade sanctions, Beijing has signaled a willingness to help Moscow resist them. China’s third-ranking official Li Zhanshu last week proposed sharing experiences on “legislation on anti-foreign interference, sanctions and long-term jurisdiction”. U.S. officials said there was no evidence China had taken steps that would violate U.S. sanctions and trigger potential sanctions against Chinese officials or companies. With additional reporting by Maiqi Ding in Beijing Video: China’s Invisible War for Strategic Influence
