Trying to convince Chinese President Xi Jinping not to change his pro-Russian stance, the Russian dictator said that Russia was ready to continue war with Ukraine for another five years. Thus, he wanted to show that a prolonged war would be beneficial to both Russia and China.
This was reported by asia.nikkei with reference to sources in the diplomatic circles of Beijing and Moscow.
The Head of the Kremlin tried to convince his Chinese counterpart that Moscow can win. However, it is interesting that at that time the situation on the front was far from being in favor of the Russian Federation.
According to journalists, it is still unclear whether the Head of China believed Putin's words, but they could affect relations between the countries. In particular, it influenced on sending the Chinese "peace mission" to Europe and the dismissal of the Chinese Foreign Minister.
In addition, Beijing may have reviewed its state strategy, as the ongoing war in Ukraine, as indicated in the article, could affect Xi's ambitions and plans during his third term as Head of the PRC, particularly on the issue of Taiwan's annexation.
And according to The New York Times, over the past few months, Putin has been actively using intermediaries to make it clear that he is willing to end the war in Ukraine. However, on the condition that he keeps control over the already occupied Ukrainian territories.
So the publication believes that Russian dictator's words about a "five-year war" should not be taken at face value.
"Perhaps Putin simply wants to create the illusion that he is moving toward a ceasefire or even peace before the Russian presidential election in March, believing that such an atmosphere will favor him at the ballots," the authors said.
The publication suggests that Xi might have taken offense at Putin for not warning him about a full-scale Russian invasion. In turn, the Chinese leader was convinced that Russia could carry out an offensive only in Eastern Ukraine. Knowing this, Beijing doubted Putin's words about a "five-year war" and began to think about protecting its own interests.