Vladimir Putin arrives to meet Xi Jinping in China as West watches with growing concern
The IndependentFor free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Mr Putin’s second visit in less than a year comes as Western nations, led by the US, are putting pressure on China to stop throwing its economic and industrial weight behind Russia’s war in Ukraine. On the eve of his visit, Mr Putin hailed the Chinese leadership’s understanding of the “root causes and global geopolitical significance” of the Ukraine war and welcomed Beijing’s peace plan to end the conflict. open image in gallery Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping are meeting for the fourth time since the start of the Ukraine war “Putin’s visit to Beijing, which includes a delegation of Russian cabinet members and the heads of state-owned banks and energy corporations, shows the Russia-China ‘comprehensive partnership of strategic coordination for a new era’ continues to move forward with full force,” said Dr Jonathan Ward, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute in Washington DC and author of The Decisive Decade. “Now that the US and European countries are exerting quite strong pressures on China’s export of dual-use technologies and equipment to Russia, Putin may seek commitment from the Chinese leader that China will not waver under Western pressures.” While Mr Putin is likely to seek further support from Beijing as it gains ground in Ukraine, Mr Xi needs Moscow to counterbalance the US.