China-Russia ties: Xi Jinping tells Medvedev Beijing seeks political solution in Ukraine

China will continue to work to create “favourable conditions for a political solution” to the Ukraine crisis, President Xi Jinping said while vowing to strengthen “strategic synergy” with Russia, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

Meeting former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev in Beijing on Thursday, Xi repeated Beijing’s position on the Ukraine war, saying China “repeatedly stressed” the need to adhere to three principles – “no expansion of the battlefields, no escalation of hostilities and no fanning flames” – to strive for a swift de-escalation.

The three principles were previously mentioned in Xi’s speech at the 16th Brics summit in Kazan, Russia, in October.

“China will continue to uphold its consistent position and work with the international community to create favourable conditions for a political solution to the crisis,” Xi told Medvedev, who is deputy chairman of Russia’s powerful Security Council and chairman of the ruling United Russia party.

Hailing China-Russia relations as “exemplary” in terms of ties between large neighbouring countries, Xi said China was willing to “strengthen strategic synergy” with Russia, CCTV said.

He said both countries should work closely in multilateral frameworks such as Brics and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation to “firmly safeguard the international system with the United Nations as the core, practise true multilateralism, promote the development of the international order in a more just and reasonable direction to jointly safeguard global strategic stability and international fairness and justice”.

Xi, the leader of China’s ruling Communist Party, also stressed that the ruling parties of both countries would further strengthen their coordination and cooperation to lead global governance.

“[We should] gather consensus among friendly political parties from around the world, especially those in the Global South, and push the world in the right direction,” Xi said.