Putin and Xi Meet for the First Time Since Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine

Chinese General Secretary Xi Jinping arrived in Moscow on March 20 for a three-day visit to hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

• Putin is the first diplomat to host a visit with Xi after Xi secured his third five-year term as the supreme leader of China.
• Xi is the first leader to meet with Putin after an arrest warrant was issued on Friday by the International Criminal Court for the Russian president for deporting Ukrainian children.

Dear friends: Putin described this visit from his “good old friend” as a “landmark event” that “reaffirms the special nature of the Russia-China partnership.”

China has created a very effective system for developing the economy and strengthening the state. It is much more effective than in many other countries.
—Vladimir Putin

Ukraine: Xi and Putin also plan to discuss China’s 12-point proposal for solving the Ukraine conflict during Xi’s visit. Demitry Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesman, stated that Putin is expected to give Xi a “detailed explanation” of Russia’s current position on the war.

Officials in Ukraine are hopeful that the meeting will cause Russia to agree to settle the war, but statements made by top Chinese officials and Xi Jinping himself demonstrate that China’s focus is more on strengthening ties with Russia than on helping Ukraine.

President Xi Jinping will have an in-depth exchange of views with President Putin on bilateral relations and major international and regional issues of mutual interest, jointly promote strategic coordination and practical cooperation between the two countries and provide new impetus for the growth of bilateral relations.
—Wang Webin, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson

We hope that the strategic partnership between China and Russia will on the one hand uphold international fairness and justice, and on the other hand promote the common prosperity and development of our countries.
—Xi Jinping

War crimes: The International Criminal Court (icc) convicted President Putin of war crimes for his involvement in deporting thousands of Ukrainian children over the course of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Russia has dismissed the claims and no Chinese official has stated any support for the icc’s ruling.

The icc needs to take an objective and just position, respect the jurisdictional immunity of a head of state under international law, prudently exercise its mandate in accordance with the law, interpret and apply international law in good faith, and not engage in politicization or using double standards.
—Wang Webin

The U.S. policy of simultaneously deterring Russia and China, as well as all those who do not bend to the American diktat, is getting ever fiercer and more aggressive.
—Vladimir Putin

Prophecy says: In military matters, economics and diplomacy, China and Russia are growing closer. The fact that this is happening despite Russia’s war has surprised some analysts. But it is an outcome Bible prophecy told us to expect. Revelation 16:12 foretells of a multinational Asian alliance that will arise in the modern era: “the kings of the east.” Bible passages provide many details about this colossus, including that it will field an army of 200 million men and will play a lead role in World War iii (Revelation 9:16; Daniel 11:44-12:1).

Based on Ezekiel 38 and 39, Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry has said that Putin will be at the head of this Asian juggernaut, with China as Russia’s primary partner, and that the two are already fulfilling the early stages of these prophecies. Read Russia and China in Prophecy.