Putin and Xi stress their partnership as Russia pushes in northeastern Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked Chinese leader Xi Jinping Thursday for China's proposals on ending the war in Ukraine, which have been rejected by Ukraine and its Western supporters as largely following the Kremlin's line.

At their summit, Putin and Xi reaffirmed a "no-limits"partnership that has grown deeper as both countries face increasing tensions with the West, and criticized U.S. military alliances in Asia and the Pacific region.

Putin's two-day state visit to one of his strongest allies comes as his country's forces are pressing an offensive in northeastern Ukraine's Kharkiv region in the most significant border incursion since the full-scale invasion began on Feb. 24, 2022.

China claims to take a neutral position in the conflict, but it has backed Moscow's contentions that Russia was provoked into attacking Ukraine by the West, and continues to supply Russia with key components that Moscow needs for its productions of weapons.

A joint statement after Putin and Xi met said that both sides believe that for "a sustainable settlement of the Ukrainian crisis, it is necessary to eliminate its root causes."

Russia has said that the war was sparked not only by the threat posed to Russia by Ukraine and its backers but as necessary to wipe out alleged Nazism in Ukraine.

The Kremlin has repeatedly sought to link Ukraine's leaders to Nazism, even though the country has a democratically elected Jewish president who lost relatives in the Holocaust, and despite the aim of many Ukrainians to strengthen the country's democracy, reduce corruption and move closer to the West.

It wasn't clear if the joint statement's wording meant China was explicitly endorsing the Russian allegation of Nazi influence in Ukraine.

But the statement also said, "The two sides pointed out that it is necessary to carry out education on the correct historical perspective, protect the world's anti-fascist memorial facilities, and protect them from desecration or destruction, and severely condemn the glorification of or even attempts to revive Nazism and militarism." That echoes Russia's persistent contention that Western countries downplay the Red Army's role in defeating Nazi Germany.

China proposed a broadly worded peace plan in 2023, calling for a ceasefire and for direct talks between Moscow and Kyiv. But the plan was rejected by both Ukraine and the West for failing to call for Russia to leave occupied parts of Ukraine.

The largely symbolic visit stressed partnership between two countries who face challenges in their relationship with the U.S. and Europe.

"Both sides want to show that despite what is happening globally, despite the pressure that both sides are facing from the U.S., both sides are not about to turn their backs on each other anytime soon," said Hoo Tiang Boon, a professor who studies Chinese foreign policy at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University.

While both leaders said they were seeking an end to the war in Ukraine, they offered no new specifics in their public remarks Thursday afternoon. 

"China hopes for the early return of Europe to peace and stability and will continue to play a constructive role toward this," Xi said, speaking alongside Putin.