Xi Jinping's visit to Moscow will be difficult for Putin

He expressed this opinion on Espreso TV.

"This visit, despite its high state rank, will be quite challenging for Putin because Xi Jinping's objectives differ from Putin's. Finding common ground may not be easy. It's crucial for Putin to involve China in our war and to gain support for the requests Russia has repeatedly made. In my opinion, Putin will try to draw analogies with Taiwan to make Xi Jinping more empathetic towards the situation on the front. However, the current situation in China is entirely different," he commented.

Shlinchak noted that it is necessary to understand Chinese philosophy, which is always focused on a long-term period and strategic goals.

"Regarding China's strategic goals, let me remind you of Xi Jinping's speech at the last party congress where he talked about building a bipolar world with two axes, with China at one pole and the USA at the other. Based on this, China's entire strategy will be built to achieve this declared goal of a bipolar world. If Russia helps to build this world, it will be an ally. But if it interferes or does not contribute to China's plans, it will become a country that is left behind. Therefore, it must be assumed that Xi Jinping is going to Moscow with a clear plan on how to manipulate Russia to share its resources and become interested in the supply of Chinese goods, while not helping achieve China's strategic goals,” Shlinchak noted.

• On March 17, the Kremlin and Chinese Foreign Ministry announced that Xi Jinping would visit Moscow on March 20-22.

• On March 18, the Institute for the Study of War reported that the subject of negotiations between the leaders of Russia and China might be Xi Jinping's mediation in the war in Ukraine and ways to circumvent sanctions