This week, Chinese president Xi Jinping met with Russian president Vladimir Putin to discuss the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Sino-Russo relations. During their meeting, Xi stated that Russia’s development had “significantly improved” while Putin claimed that China “made a colossal leap forward.”
The visit came just days after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Putin for committing war crimes in Ukraine. China is not a state party of the Rome Statute, a treaty recognizing the ICC. Thus, Xi’s visit suggests that China feels no need to hold the Russians accountable for their ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Many members of the international community are also skeptical of China’s neutrality in the war, given Xi’s close relationship with Putin.
