Ahead of Beijing visit, Putin backs China's peace plan for Ukraine conflict
India TodayRussian President Vladimir Putin, in an interview published early on Wednesday, said he backed China's plan for a peaceful settlement of the Ukraine crisis, saying Beijing had a full understanding of what lay behind the crisis. China's plan and further "principles" made public by President Xi Jinping last month took account of factors behind the conflict, Putin said. It received a lukewarm reception at the time in both Russia and Ukraine, while the U.S. said China was presenting itself as a peacemaker but reflecting Russia's "false narrative" and failing to condemn its invasion. Russia views the conflict as a struggle pitting it against the "collective West" which took no account of Moscow's security concerns by promoting the eastward expansion of NATO and military activity close to its borders. Russia and China proclaimed a "no limits" relationship just days before Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, but Beijing has so far avoided providing actual weapons and ammunition for Russia's war effort.