China’s Xi Jinping plans Russia visit, wants to play more active role in ending Kyiv war

Chinese leader Xi Jinping is expected to make a visit to Moscow for a summit with Russia’s president Vladimir Putin in the coming months, APA reported, citing sources familiar with the plan. As Beijing said that it wants to assume a "more active mediation role" aimed at ending the conflict, Xi's visit will be focused on a push for multiparty peace talks between Russia and war-torn Ukraine. The Chinese President will reiterate the calls not to use the threats of use of nuclear weapons during the ongoing conflict.

No official date for Xi Jinping's visit to Russia has been confirmed by either side. It is speculated that the visit may come in April or in early May around the time that Moscow marks its victory in World War II over Germany. 

Chinese diplomat in Moscow to discuss Xi's visit 

China's diplomatic initiative to broker the end of hostilities was first previewed last week as the country's top diplomat, Wang Yi, hinted during the Munich Security Conference. On Tuesday, Wang was in Moscow to hold a discussion about strengthening China-Russia relations and “international and regional hot-spot issues of shared interest,” according to a statement by China’s Foreign Ministry. The Chinese diplomat will also discuss Xi’s upcoming trip while he is in Moscow. Wang's trip is the conclusion of his eight-day tour to France, Italy, and Hungary, Germany where he attended the Munich conference.

Wang will meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Russian state media TASS reported. Neither country said if Wang will hold talks with President Vladimir Putin. At an earlier press conference, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, said that Russia “does not exclude” such a meeting between a Chinese diplomat and the Russian President. 

Meanwhile, the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in an interview expressed worry that Beijing is considering stepping up its cooperation with Moscow on the defense front, and may be readying to supply the “lethal support” for Russia's Spring offensive. “We’ve been watching this very closely,” Blinken told CBS’ “Face the Nation." “The concern that we have now is based on information we have that they’re considering providing lethal support, and we’ve made very clear to them that that would cause a serious problem for us and in our relationship," he added.