A little over a year ago, Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in the Chinese capital, and their joint statement formed a platform for changing the world order. At a summit in Moscow held last week, the two reiterated their aspiration for a multipolar, democratic, and just world order. However, there was a seminal development between the two summits: three weeks after the summit in Beijing, Russia invaded Ukraine, apparently without Putin informing President Xi of his intention.
The Moscow summit does not hide the lack of agreement between China and Russia regarding the war in Ukraine. On the first anniversary of the Russian invasion (February 24), China issued a peace plan for Ukraine, and it is highly doubtful that it consulted with Moscow before publication. Moreover, the first clause refers to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries. Standing next to President Xi, Putin said that many of the clauses of the plan are compatible with Russia's approach and can be accepted as a basis for the settlement, but the West and Kyiv refuse. Xi did not express any support for the Russian positions.
Although Chinese diplomacy scored a prestigious achievement with its involvement in the agreement between Saudi Arabia and Iran, it is doubtful whether the United States, the European Union, and Ukraine will agree to significant Chinese involvement in the agreement between Russia and Ukraine, if and when it is reached. It is even less likely that an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians will be reached with Chinese involvement, since Israel opposes international involvement in resolving the conflicts with its neighbors, accepting only US involvement.
Even if Putin did not achieve full success on the issue of Ukraine, Xi's visit and the agreements signed while in Moscow relieved the Russian President, for the time being, from his isolation and from some of the economic difficulties caused by the war and the sanctions. Trade between Russia and China reached $200 billion in 2022, with China being Russia's largest trading partner. Most of the trade (65 percent) is conducted in the currencies of both countries and not in foreign currency, so it is less vulnerable to sanctions. China tripled its natural gas consumption from Russia in the decade between 2010-2020 and is expected to even increase consumption after Chinese companies received shares in oil and gas infrastructure in Russia, thereby reducing the risk of China's dependence on increased imports from Russia. Even if the price that China pays to Russia is significantly lower than the prices for other consumers, the mere purchase of the large surpluses in Russia following less European dependence on Moscow is of significant help to it.