Xi Heads to Russia Next Week After China Touts Ukraine Peace Plan

File photo: 14 February 2023, China, Beijing: President of China Xi Jinping meets with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi (not pictured). (Iranian Presidency/dpa)
File photo: 14 February 2023, China, Beijing: President of China Xi Jinping meets with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi (not pictured). (Iranian Presidency/dpa)
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Xi Heads to Russia Next Week After China Touts Ukraine Peace Plan

File photo: 14 February 2023, China, Beijing: President of China Xi Jinping meets with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi (not pictured). (Iranian Presidency/dpa)
File photo: 14 February 2023, China, Beijing: President of China Xi Jinping meets with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi (not pictured). (Iranian Presidency/dpa)

Chinese President Xi Jinping will travel to Russia next week to hold talks with President Vladimir Putin, the two countries said on Friday, as Beijing touts a plan to end the grinding Ukraine war that has received a lukewarm welcome on both sides.

Xi's March 20-22 trip comes after China last month published a 12-point plan for "a political resolution of the Ukraine crisis" and after a senior Chinese diplomat called on Thursday for negotiations in a call with Ukraine's foreign minister.

The plan calls for the protection of civilians and for Russia and Ukraine to respect each other's sovereignty.

However, the United States and NATO have said Beijing's efforts to mediate are not credible as it has refrained from condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow calls a "special military operation".

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said Xi's visit to Russia - his first in nearly four years - was in part to promote "peace", although he made no explicit mention of the Ukraine war.

He said the leaders would also exchange opinions on major regional and international issues, strengthen bilateral trust and deepen economic partnerships.

‘No limits’ partnership

The Kremlin said in a statement that Xi and Putin would discuss "topical issues of further development of comprehensive partnership relations and strategic cooperation between Russia and China". The statement also made no mention of Ukraine.

Xi will hold a telephone call with Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskiy following his Russia visit, according to some media reports. Beijing has not confirmed the call.

China and Russia announced a "no limits" partnership in February 2022 when Putin visited Beijing for the opening of the Winter Olympics, days before he sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine, triggering the biggest conflict seen in Europe since World War Two.

Beijing and Moscow have since continued to reaffirm the strength of their ties. Bilateral trade has soared since the invasion and China is Russia's biggest buyer of oil, a key source of revenue for Moscow.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed and millions have fled their homes in Ukraine since the invasion and there is currently no sign of either side actively seeking an end to the conflict.

Ukraine has taken issue with Beijing's proposals for not stating that Russia should withdraw behind borders in place since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, though it later said it was open to "parts of the plan".

Russia welcomed Beijing's initiative and said it would make a "nuanced study" of the plan but has also said it sees no sign for now of a peaceful resolution.

Moscow says Ukraine must accept its annexation of four regions in the east and south of the country along with the loss of Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula it forcibly annexed in 2014.

Russia says its actions in Ukraine are a defensive pushback against a hostile and aggressive West, while Kyiv and its Western allies say they represent an imperial-style land grab.



Israel Attacks Iran's Capital with Explosions Booming across Tehran

Israel Attacks Iran's Capital with Explosions Booming across Tehran
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Israel Attacks Iran's Capital with Explosions Booming across Tehran

Israel Attacks Iran's Capital with Explosions Booming across Tehran

Israel attacked Iran's capital early Friday, with explosions booming across Tehran as Israel said it targeted nuclear and military sites.

People in Tehran awoke to the sound of the blast. State television acknowledged the blast, The AP news reported.

It wasn't immediately clear what had been hit, though smoke could be rising from Chitgar, a neighborhood in western Tehran. There are no known nuclear sites in that area — but it wasn't immediately clear if anything was happening in the rest of the country.

An Israeli military official says that his country targeted Iranian nuclear sites, without identifying them.

The official spoke to journalists on condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing operation, which is also targeting military sites.

Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz said that his country carried out the attack, without saying what it targeted.

“In the wake of the state of Israel’s preventive attack against Iran, missile and drone attacks against Israel and its civilian population are expected immediately," he said in a statement.

The statement added that Katz “signed a special order declaring an emergency situation in the home front.”

“It is essential to listen to instructions from the home front command and authorities to stay in protected areas,” it said

Iran halted flights Friday at Imam Khomeini International Airport outside of Tehran, the country’s main airport, Iranian state TV said.

Iran has closed its airspace in the past when launching previous attacks against Israel during the Israel-Hamas war.

For his part, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Israel took “unilateral action against Iran” and that Israel advised the US that it believed the strikes were necessary for its self-defense.

“We are not involved in strikes against Iran and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region,” Rubio said in a statement released by the White House.

Rubio said the Trump administration took steps to protects its forces and remained in contact with its partners in the region. He also issued a warning to Iran that it should not target US interests or personnel.