Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin praised their bilateral cooperation today, hours before the Chinese president arrived in Moscow for a summit with his Russian counterpart.

The three-day official visit to Russia, a country with which China has important diplomatic and economic ties, is Xi’s first in Moscow in nearly four years.

In an article published in the Russian newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Xi described his visit as a “journey of friendship, cooperation and peace” at a time when the West is wary of Sino-Russian relations. “I look forward to working with President Putin to adopt a new vision together” for bilateral relations, the Chinese president emphasises.

After brokering a diplomatic reconciliation between Saudi Arabia and Iran, China wants to mediate in the war between Russia and Ukraine and is calling for peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow.

In an article published today in a Chinese newspaper, Putin welcomes “China’s desire to play a constructive role in settling” the crisis and estimates that “Sino-Russian relations have reached the best point in their history.”

Xi’s visit comes days after the International Criminal Court announced an arrest warrant against Putin, accusing him of war crimes for “illegally deporting” children from Ukraine to Russia.

United by a “borderless” partnership, which they celebrated last year three weeks before the start of the Russian invasion, Beijing and Moscow have drawn even closer in recent years, mainly to create a common front against the West.

China has not publicly condemned the Russian invasion, criticising the US for supplying weapons to Ukraine and NATO for not heeding Russia’s security concerns.

Beijing calls for dialogue as well as respect for the territorial integrity of all countries. “No country should determine the world order,” Xi stresses in his op-ed published today. “China has always advocated an objective and impartial stance based on the fundamentals of the problem and actively encourages peace talks,” he adds.

A position that is considered too lukewarm by many Western countries, according to which China is indirectly supporting the Russian invasion.

Xi and Putin will hold a first “informal” meeting today before a dinner and talks tomorrow, Kremlin diplomatic adviser Yuri Usakov said.

The two leaders will sign “a joint statement (…) on deepening close partnerships and entering a new era of their strategic relations,” as well as a document that will refer to bilateral economic cooperation with a horizon of 2030, he added.