China's top diplomat to visit Russia amid Beijing's call to end Ukraine war

In stark contrast to the optics of US President Joe Biden's visit to war-torn Ukraine capital Kyiv on February 20, Wang Yi, the top Beijingdiplomat appointed Chinese leader Xi Jinping's top foreign policy adviser last month, is scheduled to visit Moscow this week. The visit coincidesone year of Russia's initiation of 'special military operations' in Ukraine, which quickly amplified into a full-fledged war between the two sides.

Wang Yi holds the diplomatic distinction of being Beijing's man in the corridors of powerof the United States as a former Chinese ambassador in Washington DC. Wang Yi is the current director of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission, one of thebodies of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) responsible for the executive functioning of Beijing's foreign policy. While he is not the foreign minister, it is under Wang Yi's directorship of the CCP's Central Foreign Affairs Committee that China's foreign policy is formulated at present. In fact, the country's foreign minister Qin Gang, who took office in December 2022, reports to Wang Yi. Therefore, in China, the foreign minister can well be the second highest-ranked foreign policy functionary,with the first being the Central Foreign Affairs Committee chairperson.

Wang Yi'svisit to Moscow will be the final stop of his eight-day Europe tour.

Wang Yi Russia visit: A quest for optics

The Kremlinsaid on February 20th that it does not "rule out" a meeting between Wang and Russian leader Vladimir Putin. A Wang Yi-Vladimir Putin meeting may result in striking war-time visuals, whichreports say, will have starkly different optics fromUS President Joe Biden's open-air stroll withUkrainianPresident Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on February 20th.

Meanwhile, as the US and countries in Europe continuetheir support for Ukraine with increased military aid, Beijing has continued its alignment with Moscow, raising alarmin the respective diplomatic quarters of the Western capitals.

Wang Yi at Munich Security Conference

At the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, Wang assertedChina's commitment to peace, amid veiled digs at the United States.

"We do not add fuel to the fire, and we areagainst reaping benefits from this crisis," Wang said in a thinly veiled dig at the US.

"Some forces might not want to see peace talks to materialise. They don't care about the life and death of Ukrainians, nor the harm on Europe. They might have strategic goals larger than Ukraine itself. This warfare must not continue," Wang said.

ALSO WATCH |Wang Yi, Macron discuss Ukraine war during meeting in Paris

He urged the European officials to think about "what framework should there be to bring lasting peace to Europe, what role should Europe play to manifest its strategic autonomy."

Wang also announced Beijing's plan to release its proposalon a "political settlement of the Ukraine crisis" around the first anniversary.

Time and again, China has blamed NATO's expansion towards Russia, which it says has pushed Moscow to war.

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