| A show of partnership between Xi and Putin |
| Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, and China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, began talks in Moscow yesterday with boasts of their close ties and only understated mention of the conflict in Ukraine. The leaders went to great lengths to flatter each other and project unity in a series of meticulously choreographed events. |
| Xi is the highest-profile world leader to visit Russia since its invasion of Ukraine over a year ago. He arrived for the three-day visit as bloody battles continued in eastern Ukraine and only three days after Putin was cited for war crimes by the International Criminal Court. Though the war and its effects hung over the meeting, the two leaders made few public comments about it. |
| Their imagery of alliance has stoked anxiety in the West, which fears that China might go beyond just diplomacy or economics in supporting Russia and offer it weapons to use in Ukraine. There also are concerns the two countries may entrench a powerful bloc to counter NATO and the U.S. |
| Analysis: Behind the display of friendship was a backdrop of hardheaded geopolitics. China and Russia both oppose a global order dominated by the U.S. and its allies, and that appears to outweigh any objections that Xi may have about Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. |
| U.S. reaction: Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Xi’s visit amounted to Beijing’s providing “diplomatic cover for Russia to continue to commit” war crimes. |
