China's Xi heading to Russia first time since Ukraine war

Chinese President Xi Jinping is scheduled to visit Russia next week at the invitation of his Russian counterpart in a move that will demonstrate growing cooperation between the two all-weather allies in the face of Western pressures.

The high-stakes three-day visit beginning on Monday comes as Beijing has offered to broker peace between Moscow and Kiev and end the devastating war in Ukraine that completed one year recently.

China’s Foreign Ministry, in a statement, said Xi and Vladimir Putin would have “in-depth exchanges on bilateral relations and important international and regional issues of mutual concern” during the three-day visit.

"At the invitation of President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation, President Xi Jinping will pay a state visit to Russia from March 20 to 22," read the ministry statement.

It called Xi's trip "a visit for peace" that aims to "practice true multilateralism... improve global governance and make contributions to the development and progress of the world".

Kremlin also confirmed the report on the visit and said the two leaders would talk about "strategic cooperation” between Moscow and Beijing.

"During the talks, they will discuss topical issues of further development of comprehensive partnership relations and strategic cooperation between Russia and China," the Kremlin said, adding, "A number of important bilateral documents will be signed.”

China's offer to be a mediator in the Ukraine war has been met with skepticism by the US and its European allies amid rising military and trade tensions between Washington and Beijing. 

China's Foreign Minister Qin Gang urged Kiev and Moscow on Thursday to restart peace talks "as soon as possible," while Kiev said the call raised the importance of Ukraine's territorial integrity.

Beijing "hopes that all parties will keep calm, exercise restraint, resume peace talks as soon as possible and return to the track of political settlement", Qin told his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba in a phone call.

"China is concerned that the crisis could escalate and get out of control," Qin said, hoping the two sides would "retain hope for dialogue and negotiation".

Russia and China struck a "no limits" partnership in February 2022, when Putin attended the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Beijing.

Brazil's Lula to visit China late March

In another development on Friday, the Chinese foreign ministry said Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva would visit China at the end of the month with the aim of pushing the "strategic partnership" between the two sides "to a new level."

"At the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of the Federative Republic of Brazil will pay a state visit to China from March 26 to 31," ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said in a statement.

Stressing that the visit would "usher in a new era and a new future for China-Brazil relations at the head-of-state level," Hua said the talks would "push the China-Brazil comprehensive strategic partnership to a new level, and make new contributions to the promotion of regional and global stability and prosperity."

The visit, Lula's first to China since taking office in January, is expected to break Brazil's international isolation after four years under the septuagenarian incumbent's far-right predecessor Jair Bolsonaro.

China is Brazil's top trade partner, with $152.6 billion in bilateral trade last year. The United States is a distant second, with $88.8 billion.

SS