Xi Jinping’s visit to Russia: how China is trying to put itself back at the center of international negotiations

This is a great first since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Monday, March 20, in Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin receives his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, for three days. A trip that has nothing to do with a simple courtesy visit, since negotiations are on the program. “It will be a one-on-one conversation, there will be an informal lunch. And from [Tuesday] March 21 there will be a day of negotiations,” said Dmitry Peskov, the spokesman for the Russian presidency.

For its part, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spoke of a “movement for friendship and peace”. Will it be about the war in Ukraine, from which China has kept a good distance since February 2022? No details in this direction have yet filtered. In recent weeks, however, Beijing has presented its major “global security initiative”, in addition to being active on other issues, such as the historic resumption of talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Is China establishing itself as a new mediator? In what interest?