Putin welcomes China’s Xi to Kremlin

Russian president Vladimir Putin welcomed Chinese leader Xi Jinping as China looks to Russia as a source of oil and gas, and a partner to stand up to the U.S.

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World News

March 20, 2023 - 2:51 PM

China's President Xi Jinping, center, accompanied by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko, walks past honor guards during a welcoming ceremony at Moscow's Vnukovo airport on March 20, 2023. The Chinese leader arrived in Moscow on Monday saying his first state visit to Russia since the Ukraine conflict broke out would give "new momentum" to bilateral ties. (Anatoliy Zhdanov/Kommersant Photo/AFP via Getty Images/TNS)

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin warmly welcomed Chinese leader Xi Jinping to the Kremlin on Monday, sending a powerful message to Western leaders that their efforts to isolate Moscow over the fighting in Ukraine have fallen short.

Xi’s trip — his first abroad since his re-election earlier this month — showed off Beijing’s new diplomatic swagger and gave a political lift to Putin just days after an international arrest warrant was issued for the Kremlin leader on war crimes charges related to Ukraine.

The two major powers have described Xi’s three-day trip as an opportunity to deepen their “no-limits friendship.” China looks to Russia as a source of oil and gas for its energy-hungry economy, and as a partner in standing up to what both see as U.S. aggression, domination of global affairs and unfair punishment for their human rights records.

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