Moscow, 20 March 2023 (dpa/MIA) – Russian President Vladimir Putin received his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Monday for a three-day state focused on developing their strategic partnership, against the backdrop of Moscow's war on Ukraine.

Putin said at the start of their meeting in Moscow that he was familiar with Beijing's proposals for resolving the Ukraine war, which Russia merely refers to as a crisis. Xi replied that there were no simple solutions to complicated crises.

The Chinese leader was greeted at the government airport Vnukovo by marching soldiers and a military orchestra.

The meeting between Putin and Xi began on Monday in the Kremlin's Parade Hall in Moscow, the Interfax news agency reported.

Putin stressed during the talks that Russia was open to negotiations around Ukraine. "We are undoubtedly discussing all these issues, including your initiative," Putin said.

The two men who are close in age - Putin is 70, Xi 69 - were shown sitting by a fireplace, in a sign of special closeness. Putin usually receives state guests at a large oval negotiating table in his hall.

Xi's visit comes at an opportune moment for Putin. Russia is under severe Western sanctions in response to the invasion of Ukraine.

China is one of the few countries that has not condemned the attack and is attempting to mediate an end to the war, therefore presenting itself as a useful partner for Russia.

The visit is the first by a foreign leader since the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant on Putin for alleged war crimes in Ukraine. He is accused of unlawfully deporting children from Ukraine to Russia. Russia says the children were being taken out of a war zone to safety.

Russia, along with China and the United States, does not recognize the ICC.

At the beginning of their meeting, Xi said he was confident that Putin would win next year's presidential election, according to Russian state media reports.

Putin has not yet declared his candidacy.

"I know that next year is the presidential election in your country. Thanks to your strong leadership, Russia has made significant progress in achieving success and prospering in recent years," said Xi according to a Russian transcript.

"I am convinced that the Russian people will support you in your good intentions," he added.

Putin did not respond directly to Xi's comments, although the Kremlin later denied that Xi had confirmed he was running for election.

"President Xi has not said that Putin will contest the election. President Xi has expressed the conviction that Russians support Putin, and here one can only share his conviction," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

The election is scheduled for March next year.

While China is seen as a close ally of Moscow, it has largely abided by international sanctions on Russia to avoid becoming a target of sanctions itself.

A recent peace initiative from Beijing, which called for a ceasefire but did not make concrete demands for the withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukraine, was received with scepticism in the West.

Xi's visit has drawn criticism from Washington. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday that, coming just days after the ICC's arrest warrant, it indicated that China did not want to hold Putin accountable for his alleged war crimes.

He said Beijing was showing that it preferred to offer Russia diplomatic backing instead.

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius, on the other hand, said he hoped that Xi's visit would lead to progress on a Russian-Ukrainian peace process.

"I hope that he will use the opportunities he has because of his influence to convince Putin to (...) come to the negotiating table," Pistorius said in Brussels on Monday. He hoped that Xi would find and use this path.

Earlier in the day, the state press in China and Russia had published lengthy articles in which Putin and Xi reaffirmed their partnership. The meeting also comes in the context of both states' aspirations for a world without US-led Western domination.

Putin reiterated in the newspaper Renmin Bibao that he is open to a peace process, as long as Ukraine is willing to give up its territories.

Kiev rejects these demands, meaning negotiations have so far not progressed.

In the Russian government newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Xi in turn stressed an "objective and unbiased" attitude of Beijing to the war in Ukraine. China, he wrote, is making active efforts to support peace negotiations and reconciliation.

The "reasonable concerns of all states in the field of security" must be taken into account in such negotiations, added Xi.

The two heads of state want to expand their countries' economic cooperation by signing agreements on furthering their strategic cooperation during the talks, which are set to last until Wednesday.