Chinese President Xi Jinping's recent meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow confirms the two leaders' mutual desire for deeper economic and political cooperation, as well as Beijing's desire to position itself as a viable mediator in Ukraine and Moscow's desire to freeze the war along current battle lines. Xi arrived in the Russian capital on March 20 for a three-day state visit to Russia. Informal talks between the Chinese president and his Russian counterpart that night lasted nearly five hours. And on March 21, Xi continued talks with Putin in an expanded format, including high-ranking officials from both sides. The two leaders signed joint statements on their comprehensive partnership and their plans to develop key areas of Russian-Chinese economic cooperation by 2030, along with documents on cooperation in various areas, most notably a memorandum of understanding on industrial and infrastructural cooperation in the Russian Far East. Putin and...
