This is the first public sign that Putin recognizes the pressure that is forcing him to back down
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday he understood Chinese leader Xi Jinping was concerned about the situation in Ukraine, a surprise admission of friction with Beijing over the war after a week of stunning Russian losses in Ukraine of land, Reuters reports.
Read also: Putin praised Xi Jinping for his “balanced position on Ukraine” and condemned the US's “provocations” in Taiwan
The agency notes that with for his part, Xi did not mention Ukraine in his public speeches, and it was not mentioned in the Chinese report on the meeting with Putin, which took place in Uzbekistan as part of the regional summit.
The comments of the Russian president indicate that China is moving to a more critical position at least privately.
Ian Bremmer, a professor of political science at Columbia University, said that it is ” the first public sign that Putin is acknowledging the pressures forcing him to back down “.
Russia became an outcast among the G7 because of its invasion. China does not want to participate in this,” he wrote on Twitter, referring to the Group of Seven leading industrialized countries.
Related video
White House Press Secretary John Kirby said that China should reject Russia's invasion: “The whole world needs to rally against what Mr. Putin is doing,” Kirby said in an interview with CNN. “Now is not the time to do business with Putin as usual.”
