Beijing is already bankrolling Putin’s war

It hardly seems like the most propitious time for Xi Jinping to be visiting Moscow. There’s an international arrest warrant out for his host Vladimir Putin for war crimes, and the man Xi has described as his ‘best friend’ spent the weekend inspecting land he’s snatched from Ukraine – in gross violation of the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity, which Xi endlessly trumpets.

On the eve of today’s formal talks in the Russian capital, the US said Xi should press Putin to end his barbarity. ‘We hope that President Xi will press President Putin to cease bombing Ukrainian cities, hospitals and schools, to halt the war crimes and atrocities and to withdraw his troops,’ said John Kirby, the White House’s National Security Council spokesman.

That’s wishful thinking. Though every word from their meetings, every nuance, will no doubt be pored over in the spirit of Kremlinologists of yesteryear for any evidence of emerging differences, real or imagined.