Larry Williams Drive

Chinese President Xi Jinping reasserted his country’s support for Russia on issues of sovereignty and security in a phone call with Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, state media said.Xi told Putin that “all parties should responsibly push for a proper settlement of the Ukraine crisis,” according to the official Xinhua News Agency.The Kremlin said in its account of the call that Putin “outlined his fundamental assessments of the situation in Ukraine.” Xi “noted the legitimacy of the actions taken by Russia to protect the fundamental national interests in the face of challenges to its security created by external forces,” according to Moscow's official readout.China has refused to criticize Russia’s invasion of Ukraine or even to refer to it in such terms, while accusing NATO and the West of provoking Moscow into attacking.Weeks before the Russian attack, Putin and Xi met in Beijing in February and oversaw the signing of an agreement pledging that relations between the sides would have “no limits.” It