Chinese President Xi Jinping met with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, at the Kremlin on his arrival in Moscow on Monday.
When Xi reached the Kremlin, he was greeted by the Kremlin Commandant at the alighting point. Putin warmly shook hands and took photos with Xi. The two presidents had an in-depth and candid exchange on China-Russia relations and issues of mutual interest.
“China and Russia are friendly neighbors connected by shared mountains and rivers,” Xi said, according to an English translation of the remarks by China’s state-run news organization CGTN.
“We believe that the more difficult it is, the more space it is to leave room for peace; the more conflicting it is, the more we can’t give up dialogue efforts,” Xi said Monday, according his foreign ministry. “China is willing to play a constructive role in promoting the political settlement of the Ukraine Issue.”
China’s peace plan includes “respecting the sovereignty of all countries,” restarting peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, ending hostilities and ending wartime sanctions against Russia.
Xi noted that he was pleased to pay another state visit to Russia at the invitation of Putin, adding that Russia was the first country he visited after he was elected president 10 years ago and memories from that visit remain fresh today.
Xi said that over the past 10 years, he and Putin have stayed in close touch, and expressed his appreciation to Putin for immediately sending him congratulatory messages on his reelection as general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) by the 20th CPC National Congress and on his reelection not long ago as Chinese president.
CURRENTPH NEWS SERVICE
