As Xi Summits With Putin, Is Biden Losing Ground to China?

China's leader, Xi Jinping, arrived Monday in Moscow for the ostensible purpose of laying out a peace plan to end the war in Ukraine.

But Xi's embrace of Russian President Vladimir Putin also put the world on notice, serving as a reminder of China's emergence as a global powerbroker and raising questions about whether America is in danger of losing its place as the undisputed leader in international diplomacy.

"China has an interest in demonstrating that the United States is not the only game in town," said Thomas Graham, a former senior Russia adviser on the National Security Council and a founder of the Russia Studies Project at Yale.

And for Moscow, Graham added, "the symbolism of the visit is very important to Putin."

Putin turned himself into a pariah on the world stage after invading Ukraine. The war has left thousands dead and displaced millions of Ukrainians. Last week, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin for alleged war crimes.

Xi's visit underscored the increasingly close relationship between Moscow and Beijing, and the diplomatic repercussions immediately overshadowed the specifics of China's peace plan.

Beijing released its 12-point peace proposal last month, on the first anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. China called for respecting "the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity" of both nations, but did not include any specific proposals for how to wind down the conflict.

"The peace plan is pretty much bromide. There's nothing concrete in the plan that would provide the basis for a serious negotiation to end the war," Graham said.

Ukraine has refused to negotiate so long as Russia maintains control of some parts of the country.

In Washington, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby expressed concern Monday that China would use Xi's visit to push for a ceasefire in Ukraine that would allow Russia to consolidate its territorial gains.

Kirby noted that China has not condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine or participated in the economic sanctions against Moscow put in place by the U.S. and its allies. The decisions "at least tacitly" if indirectly aligned Beijing and Moscow against the West, Kirby said.

"These two countries have grown closer, Kirby told reporters at the White House. "They are both countries that chafe and bristle at U.S. leadership."

The informal alliance has developed as "China has tried to expand their influence all around the world," Kirby added.

The meeting between Xi and Putin comes after Biden administration officials raised concerns that China was considering sending weapons to Russia. Both Russia and Ukraine, which relies on Western military aid, face a shortage in some weapons including artillery and other ammunition.

The visit by Xi to Moscow also comes on the heels of a major Middle East diplomatic agreement between Saudi Arabia and Iran that was brokered by China.

The two countries had been in talks to thaw relations for several years after breaking off diplomatic ties. But China's central role in helping broker the deal came as a surprise, especially in a region that has been dominated by the U.S. for decades.

China "kind of stepped on America's traditional territory as the main broker" in the region, said Shadi Hamid, a senior fellow in the Center for Middle East Policy at Brookings. "It's signaling that China's not going to play nice and defer to the U.S."