<div style="text-align: justify; "><b><span style="font-size: 1rem;">China’s leader Xi Jinping welcomed Russia’s President Vladimir Putin on Thursday as he began a two-day state visit while Moscow presses forward with a new offensive in Ukraine.</span><br></b></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">They shook hands at a welcome ceremony after Putin’s arrival in Beijing at dawn. Putin, Xi and other top officials are expected to hold meetings later that will emphasize their commitment to the “no limits” relationship they signed in 2022, just before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Since then, Russia has become increasingly economically dependent on China as Western sanctions cut its access to much of the international trading system.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On the eve of the visit, Putin said in an interview with Chinese media that the Kremlin is prepared to negotiate over the conflict in Ukraine. “We are open to a dialogue on Ukraine, but such negotiations must take into account the interests of all countries involved in the conflict, including ours,” Putin was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua News Agency.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Russian leader’s two-day trip comes as his country’s forces have pressed an offensive in northeastern Ukraine’s Kharkiv region that began last week in the most significant border incursion since the full-scale invasion began, forcing almost 8,000 people to flee their homes.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Along with Moscow’s efforts to build on its gains in the nearby Donetsk region, the 2-year-old war has entered a critical stage for Ukraine’s depleted military that is awaiting new supplies of anti-aircraft missiles and artillery shells from the United States.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“We have never refused to negotiate,” Putin was quoted as saying by Xinhua. “We are seeking a comprehensive, sustainable and just settlement of this conflict through peaceful means. We are open to a dialogue on Ukraine, but such negotiations must take into account the interests of all countries involved in the conflict, including ours.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said any negotiations must include a restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, the withdrawal of Russian troops, the release of all prisoners, a tribunal for those responsible for the aggression, and security guarantees for Ukraine.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">China claims to take a neutral position in the conflict, but has backed Moscow’s contentions that Russia was provoked into attacking Ukraine by the West, despite Putin’s public avowals of his desire to restore Russia’s century-old borders as the reason for his assault.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Putin has blamed the West for the failure of negotiations in the opening weeks of the war and praised China’s peace plan for Ukraine that would allow Moscow to cement its territorial gains.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“Beijing proposes practicable and constructive steps to achieve peace by refraining from pursuing vested interests and constant escalation of tensions, minimizing the negative impact of the conflict on the global economy,” he had said. - AP</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">bnbd/fas</div>