China and the Russian invasion of Ukraine

Ukraine is prepared for good-faith peace talks with Russia if Moscow is willing, though no such indication has come from Moscow, stated Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba during a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Guangzhou.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit China this week and meet with leader Xi Jinping, the two countries announced Tuesday.

Putin will be in Beijing from Thursday to Friday, foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in a statement, the Russian leader's first trip abroad since his March re-election and his second in just over six months to China.

Xi Jinping heads to Europe on Sunday to defend China's "no limits" alliance with Russia, first to key Ukraine backer France, then to Serbia and Hungary, which have close ties to the Kremlin.

The world's second-biggest economy is seeking to deepen political and economic ties in Europe to counterbalance difficult relations with rival Washington.

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday told top U.S. diplomat Antony Blinken that the world's biggest economies should be "partners, not rivals" as the two sides pressed for headway on a range of concerns.

Simmering tensions between Beijing and Washington remain the top worry for American companies operating in China, according to a report by the American Chamber of Commerce in China released on April 23.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Tuesday that he and Chinese President Xi Jinping had agreed to back a high-level peace conference for Ukraine in Switzerland in June, taking place without Russia.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was in China for an official visit on Monday, his ministry said, with the two countries looking to strengthen diplomatic ties as Russia's invasion of Ukraine grinds on.

Moscow's foreign ministry announced Lavrov had touched down in Beijing in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday morning.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken raised concerns over Beijing's backing for Russia's war against Ukraine on Friday in talks with China's top diplomat Wang Yi, who called for Washington to lift sanctions on Chinese entities.