Xi Jinping arrives in Russia to plan ‘cooperation’ amid tensions with US | world

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Russia on Monday (20th) on a trip It escalates tensions with the West, which accuses Beijing of supplying weapons to the Russian army.

This is the The Chinese president’s first visit to Russia since the start of the war in Ukraine.

But since the beginning of this year, Putin has talked a lot about a “strategic” partnership with Beijing. Intelligence services in the United Kingdom and the United States indicate that Russia has begun buying weapons from China to try to counter Western support for Ukraine.

Later on Monday, Xi will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, with whom he will hold a press conference. on Tuesday (21), He will discuss a “strategic partnership” between the two countries, according to the Russian government. Return to Beijing the next day.

But Beijing says the visit is the first step in China’s bid to lead a new round of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.

“Complicated problems do not have simple solutions,” he said.

Putin who He described Xi Jinping as an “old friend”He said that the Chinese leader’s visit underscores the “special” partnership between Russia and China.

British intelligence says that China should supply military equipment to Russia throughout this year. Beijing denied.

Xi and Putin had already met in September last year, in Uzbekistan, during a meeting of regional leaders.

Moscow had already been accused by NGOs, by Kiev and even by a United Nations (UN) investigation Kidnapping of children in Ukrainian regions by the country’s army and transfer to “re-education” centers on Russian soil. Himself The Kremlin has already admitted sending young Ukrainians to Russia, but claims they are orphans.

The Kremlin described the decision as “meaningless”. The Hague International Court – which was created in 1998 and reports only to countries that have ratified (that is, internally adopted as law) is not recognized by Russia, which is not the case for the Russian government.

On Saturday (18), Putin defied that arrest warrant and made a surprise visit to Mariupol, a city in southern Ukraine that has been heavily bombed by Russian forces and is currently controlled by Moscow.

Russian attacks destroyed the city early in the war. Mariupol was considered strategic for Putin, as it has access to the Black Sea and close proximity to Crimea.Ukraine invaded and occupied Russia in 2014.

On March 9, 2022, just 15 days after the war began, a maternity hospital in the city was bombed by Russia, according to the city council. The Russian Defense Ministry denied ordering the air strike and accused Ukraine of faking the bombing.

But the images recorded the devastation and the pregnant woman had to hastily leave the scene in full labour, being carried off on a stretcher.

Kiev, on the other hand, was based on Shipping weapons and military equipment from Western countrieswith German Leopard 2 tanks, in order to drive out the Russian forces, who It currently controls about 20% of the Ukrainian territoryin the east of the country.