Putin welcomes China's willingness to help resolve Ukraine conflict

Russia's President Vladimir Putin says he welcomes China's willingness to help resolve the one-year-plus-long conflict in Ukraine as his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping says Bejing’s proposal on how to solve the crisis reflects global views.

According to reports, President Xi is heading on Monday to Russia, where, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, the Chinese head of state would "play a constructive role in promoting peace talks."

Writing for a Chinese paper on the eve of the visit, Putin said he had "high expectations" of his pending talks with the Chinese leader, and hailed "China's willingness to play a constructive role in resolving" the conflict.

"Russia is open to a settlement of the Ukrainian crisis by political-diplomatic means," Putin added in the article.

He, however, insisted on Kiev's recognition of "new geopolitical realities," namely Moscow's territorial sovereignty over the two republics as well as Ukraine's former territory of Crimea, all of which have voted to join the Russian Federation.

Putin also said he was grateful to Beijing for its "balanced" stance on events in Ukraine and its understanding of the conflict's background and the "real reasons" behind it.

SS