• Beijing talks, without the war
• China as peace broker – in theory
• Energy, not armistice
• Countering the West

Kremlin Says Putin and Xi Did Not Discuss Ukraine Peace Plan Russian President Vladimir Putin flew to Beijing projecting strategic unity with China’s Xi Jinping. Yet the war defining Russia’s global isolation – Ukraine – was, according to the Kremlin, kept carefully off the table.

§Beijing talks, without the war

During Putin’s “intense and very productive” visit to China, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that the two leaders “did not discuss” Beijing’s own peace plan for ending the conflict in Ukraine during their talks in the Chinese capital. Another pro-government account echoed the line, stressing that there was “not a word about Ukraine” in the leaders’ direct exchanges.

Chronologically, the message from Moscow has hardened over the course of the visit: first, to deny any substantive discussion of peace terms; second, to frame that absence as deliberate, not accidental.

§China as peace broker – in theory

Still, Peskov went out of his way to praise Beijing’s declared readiness to mediate. China is “really ready to make efforts to help establish a peaceful solution (in Ukraine). We are grateful to our Chinese friends for this,” he said, underscoring that Russia welcomes China’s diplomatic posture even as it sidelines the formal Chinese plan itself.

That leaves a peculiar timeline: China offers a peace blueprint; Putin lands in Beijing with the war grinding on; the leaders talk strategy and energy but officially skip the one plan that would put Beijing at the center of peacemaking.

§Energy, not armistice

Instead, the spotlight shifted to hard interests. Peskov confirmed that talks on the “Power of Siberia 2” gas pipeline have made “progress” but are “not yet finalized,” with “a number of details” still to be agreed and work “to continue.” The visit was sold domestically as a productive deepening of the Russia‑China partnership, not a peace mission.

§Countering the West

Parallel to downplaying peace talks, Peskov attacked Western coverage, pointing to “a large number of false reports” in European and U.S. media about alleged Russian military training in China and urging “great caution” about such information. The result is a tightly controlled narrative: Beijing as friendly potential mediator, Moscow as reasonable partner – and Ukraine’s fate, once again, handled offstage.