Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin bid farewell after their talks in Moscow.
President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin were pictured bidding warm farewells as their two-day meeting ended and the Chinese leader said they were driving geopolitical change around the world.
The two leaders called for “responsible dialogue” to resolve the Ukraine crisis, with Xi acknowledging that Beijing and Moscow have signed an agreement that lifts their relations into a “new era” of cooperation.
A video of Xi’s departure was filmed on Wednesday, with interpreters talking about the two men.
“At the moment, there are changes — the likes of which we haven’t seen in 100 years — and we are the ones leading these changes together,” Xi told Putin as he stood at the door of the Kremlin to see him off.
The Russian president replied: “I agree.”
Xi then extended his hand to shake Putin’s hand and said, “Take care of yourself, my dear friend.” Putin responded by holding Xi’s hand with both hands and saying, “Have a safe trip.”
The Chinese president’s visit to Moscow comes days after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Putin over alleged war crimes in Ukraine, where Russian forces have made little progress in recent months despite suffering heavy losses.
The talks were meant to solidify a “borderless” partnership that the two leaders announced last February, less than three weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine.
Putin said the Chinese proposal to end the conflict could be used as a basis for a peace settlement, but that the West and Kiev were not yet ready.
The United States has rejected China’s peace plan and said a cease-fire would seal Russia’s territorial gains and give Putin’s military more time to regroup.
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