Lisa Haseldine Lisa Haseldine

Is Putin struggling to maintain his strongman image?

(Credit: Getty images)

China’s president Xi Jinping has arrived in Russia for the start of a three day state visit. The aim of the trip, according to the Chinese, is to strengthen relations between the two countries in a world threatened by ‘acts of hegemony, despotism and bullying’. 

Xi and Putin will meet in person this afternoon, before holding bilateral talks tomorrow. Their meeting comes just weeks after China published a twelve-point ‘peace plan’ for Ukraine calling for the ‘sovereignty of all countries’ to be respected. This morning, the Kremlin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed Ukraine would be discussed by the two leaders: ‘President Putin will give exhaustive explanations so that President Xi can get Russia’s view on current matters firsthand.’ Xi is said to be considering a phone call to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky once his state visit has finished.

Xi’s visit to Russia comes amid concerns in the West that China is considering providing more concrete support to Russia in its war. Whether he will actually attempt to negotiate with Putin on the conflict, or it is just a pretence to indeed solidify an alliance between Russia and China, remains to be seen.

That the risk-averse Putin visited Mariupol at all is an attempt to assert himself as a strong leader at home

The Chinese president’s state visit comes off the back of a busy weekend for Putin. First came the news on Friday afternoon that the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague had issued an arrest warrant for the Russian president over war crimes in Ukraine – the first of its kind for this conflict. The ICC accused Putin of personal responsibility for the abduction and transportation of children from Ukraine to Russia. 

Today, ahead of Xi’s visit, in a gesture bordering on the farcical, the Russian Investigative Committee opened its own criminal case against the ICC prosecutor and judges who issued Putin’s arrest warrant. It has done so, it says, because the case against Putin ‘is obviously illegal, since there are no grounds for criminal prosecution’.

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