Blinken: Xi’s Moscow visit provides ‘diplomatic cover’ for Russian crimes in Ukraine

U.S. State Secretary Antony Blinken said Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Moscow indicates Beijing’s willingness to provide “diplomatic cover” for Russia’s “atrocities in Ukraine.”

Xi made a state visit to Moscow on March 20 to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin – his first visit to Russia since 2019. During his visit, Xi said Beijing and Moscow “share similar goals,” adding that he believed the “Russian people will continue to strongly support” Putin.

“That President Xi is traveling to Russia days after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for President Putin suggests that China feels no responsibility to hold the Kremlin accountable for the atrocities committed in Ukraine, and instead of even condemning them, it would rather provide diplomatic cover for Russia to continue to commit those very crimes,” Blinken said at a news conference on March 20.