Putin welcomes China’s willingness to play constructive role in Ukraine crisis

Vladimir Putin welcomed China's willingness to play a constructive role in solving the Ukraine crisis, in an article released on the eve of a visit by his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping.

In an article written for a Chinese newspaper on Sunday, the Russian president called Xi his good old friend and said Russia had high hopes for his visit, the Chinese leader s first to Russia since Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine last year.

Xi's visit came just days after the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued an arrest warrant for Putin for overseeing the abduction of Ukrainian children. Neither Russia nor China are members of the court.

Putin said in the article, "We are grateful for the balanced line of China in connection with the events taking place in Ukraine, for understanding their background and true causes." We welcome China's willingness to play a constructive role in solving the crisis. Xi and Putin signed a no limits partnership agreement weeks before the invasion last year. China has remained neutral in the conflict, criticising western sanctions against Russia and reaffirming its close ties with Moscow.

Beijing published a 12 point paper calling for dialogue and a settlement in Ukraine last month, but it contained only general statements and no concrete proposal for how the year-long war might end.

Ukraine, which says any settlement would require Russia to withdraw from all the territory it has seized, including the Crimean peninsula that Russia annexed in 2014, cautiously welcomed the Chinese proposal.

The United States has reacted with extreme scepticism because of China's refusal to condemn Russia's invasion, and said a ceasefire would only lock in Russian territorial gains and give Putin more time to regroup.

Since last month, Washington has said that it was concerned that China might provide Russia with weapons, which Beijing has denied.

Putin said that Russo-Chinese relations were at a historic high and they were coordinating their foreign policy to fight common threats as US attempts to contain both countries took an ever sharper and more assertive character.