Xi leaves no doubt that he is on Team Putin
It’s taken a year, but Beijing has finally picked a side in Russia’s war against Ukraine. Beijing’s 12-point Ukraine peace plan does not use the word “war,” does not call on Moscow to withdraw its troops from Ukraine, but does condemn what it calls “unilateral sanctions” against Russia. Senior U.S. officials say they are confident that Beijing is considering providing lethal equipment to Moscow, including drones and ammunition.
Beijing is already providing Moscow with crucial propaganda support. Chinese media fuels Putin’s narrative that Ukraine started the war. “Putin states Russia is Invincible” was one of the best performing hashtags across Chinese social media after it was initiated by the state media outlet Global Times following Vladimir Putin’s speech last week. Beijing’s involvement in the war, whatever shape it takes, could seriously alter the course of the conflict. Which is why, Ukraine, clearly aware of the delicate balancing act it needs to play, is downplaying China’s apparent siding with Moscow and U.S. allegations that Beijing is preparing to send weapons. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he plans to meet with Xi Jinping to discuss Beijing’s peace proposal. But Chinese officials have yet to make any public comments about a meeting with Zelenskyy. They have instead invited Putin’s closest ally, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, to visit Beijing.
Xi Jinping is rolling out the red carpet for Lukashenko. His four-day state visit, starting today, is a big deal, another sign of China’s growing closeness to Russia. Belarus is a party to the war, having allowed Russia to use Belarusian territory to start its initial incursion into Ukraine. Recently leaked documents show that Vladimir Putin aspires to absorb Belarus into a “Union State” by 2030. Details of Lukashenko’s meetings in Beijing and what’s on the agenda are blurry, but the timing of his visit and China’s unveiling of its “peace plan” and its continued support for Russian propaganda show that Beijing is now firmly on Putin’s side.
NATO countries are no longer our opponents, they are our enemies, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian state television this week, reflecting on Vladimir Putin’s speech and his decision to end the last nuclear treaty between the United States and Russia, which effectively also ended arms control as we know it. Russia’s global disinformation machine, in the meantime, seems focused on unfounded claims of chemical attacks by Ukrainian forces.