Xi Jinping promises "new impetus" in relations with Russia at the start of his visit

The President of China, Xi Jinping, has arrived in Russia this Monday morning, the beginning of a state visit that is preceded by great expectations and in which the Chinese president hopes to lay the foundations for "a new impetus" in bilateral relations, as he made clear after landing in Moscow.

Xi, who has chosen Russia for his first trip abroad after starting his third term, hopes that the visit that will end on Wednesday will be "fruitful". The good relationship between the two powers, he added, not only benefits Beijing and Moscow, but also contributes "to the progress of the whole world", the official Russian agencies report.

The Chinese president did not refer directly to Ukraine in his first statements, but he did promise that his government will be on the Russian side to defend a system "based on International Law" and on the UN Charter, "in a world that is far from peaceful".

Kremlin spokesman Dimitri Peskov has taken for granted in statements to journalists that the Ukraine war will "inevitably" come up in the talks between Putin and Xi, "one way or another," reports the TASS news agency. .

Putin will offer "exhaustive explanations" about the invasion that began more than a year ago, which Russia continues to classify as a "special military operation." For his part, Xi will receive "first-hand" the Russian government's version of the conflict, Peskov added.

Beijing has avoided clearly condemning the invasion and has presented its own peace plan to resolve the conflict, although kyiv has discarded the proposal as it considers it too biased towards Moscow's political theses.