Nikkei Asia’s Senior Correspondent, Katsuji Nakazawa, has suggested that there are reports indicating Russian President Putin said to Chinese President Xi Jinping that Russia “will be fighting in Ukraine for at least five years” during Xi’s visit to Moscow in March of 2023.
Nakazawa views the rumored exchange as Putin’s assurance to Xi that Russia would eventually prevail in the war despite unfavorable circumstances. Despite this assurance, China started hedging its position soon after Xi’s meeting with Putin in March. Facing domestic economic challenges and potential international sanctions, China dispatched a “peace delegation” to Europe within two months of the China-Russia summit.
Putin felt that Xi had started to abandon him. To keep China on Russian’s side, Russia shared information about then-Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang during the visit of Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Rudenko to Beijing on June 25. This led to the sudden removal of Qin Gang from his position in the Chinese government.
Source: Epoch Times, December 27, 2023
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/23/12/27/n14144987.htm