Leaders of China and Japan Conclude Official Visits to Russia and Ukraine

On Wednesday, Ukraine experienced more Russian drone attacks that killed at least three people. This occurred shortly after Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida left Kyiv. Kishida’s visit to the Ukrainian capital drew attention away from Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s trip to Moscow, where he promoted Beijing’s peace proposal for Ukraine. Despite Western nations dismissing the proposal, Russia and China emphasised the need to “respect legitimate security concerns of all countries” to settle the conflict. Kishida called Russia’s invasion a “disgrace that undermines the foundations of the international legal order” and pledged to “continue to support Ukraine until peace is back on the beautiful Ukrainian lands”. Putin and Xi signed agreements on economic cooperation, including aircraft and shipbuilding industries and other high-tech sectors. After meeting Kishida, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters his team had sent his own peace formula to China but hasn’t heard back.