MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin said after talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Tuesday that Chinese proposals could be used as the basis of a peace settlement in Ukraine, but that the West and Kyiv were not yet ready.
Putin accused Western powers of fighting “to the last Ukrainian” after talks with Xi in the Kremlin which Putin said showed the growing trade, energy and political ties between China and Russia.
Describing his talks with Putin as “open and friendly,” Xi reiterated China’s “neutral position” on Ukraine and called for dialogue.
“We believe that many of the provisions of the peace plan put forward by China are consonant with Russian approaches and can be taken as the basis for a peaceful settlement when they are ready for that in the West and in Kyiv. However, so far we see no such readiness from their side,” Putin said.
China’s proposal — a 12-point paper calling for a de-escalation and eventual cease-fire in Ukraine — lacks details on how to end the war.
The United States has been dismissive of the Chinese proposal, given Beijing’s refusal to condemn Russia over Ukraine, and says a cease-fire now would lock in Russian territorial gains and give Putin’s army more time to regroup.
Kyiv has welcomed China’s diplomatic involvement but says Russia must pull its troops out of Ukraine, and underlines the importance of Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
Burgeoning ties
The Kremlin talks were intended to cement the “no limits” partnership the two leaders announced last February, less than three weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine.
They signed a series of documents on a “strategic cooperation” after what Putin described as “successful and constructive” talks showing China was clearly now Russia’s most important economic partner.
“I am convinced that our multi-faceted cooperation will continue to develop for the good of the peoples of our countries,” Putin said in televised remarks.
Xi’s state visit is a major boost to Putin as he squares off against what he sees as a hostile West bent on inflicting a “strategic defeat” on Russia. The Chinese leader visited Moscow days after an international court issued an arrest warrant for Putin over Russia’s actions in Ukraine, where Russian forces have made little progress in recent months despite suffering heavy losses.
Power of Siberia
Putin said Russia, China and Mongolia had completed all agreements on a planned pipeline to ship Russian gas to China, and that Moscow was ready to increase oil exports to Beijing.
He also said Moscow was ready to help Chinese businesses replace Western firms that have left Russia over the Ukraine conflict.
The planned Power of Siberia 2 pipeline would deliver 50 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas per year from Russia to China via Mongolia. Moscow put forward the idea many years ago, but it has gained urgency as Russia turns to China to replace Europe as its major gas customer.
Xi said China and Russia should work more closely to push forward greater “practical cooperation.”
Russia’s Gazprom already supplies gas to China through an existing Power of Siberia pipeline under a 30-year, $400 billion deal launched at the end of 2019. That pipeline spans some 3,000 km (1,865 miles).
Russia’s gas exports to China are still a small fraction of the record 177 bcm it delivered to Europe in 2018-19.
Putin said on Tuesday Russia would deliver at least 98 bcm of gas to China by 2030.
Putin says Chinese proposal could be basis for peace in Ukraine
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Putin says Chinese proposal could be basis for peace in Ukraine
- Washington denounces Xi Jinping’s visit, saying it shows Beijing is providing Moscow with ‘diplomatic cover’ to commit more crimes
Immigration raids in Minnesota fuel grassroots Somali activism
- “You would never fathom that people would just pluck you off the streets ... and say, ‘Prove to me that you’re a citizen,’” Mohamed said
- Trump, who has described Somalis as “garbage” who should be thrown out of the country, has said the operations are necessary to combat crime
MINNEAPOLIS: When immigration agents began aggressive operations in Minneapolis last month, Kowsar Mohamed started knocking on doors, fielding late-night calls and mobilizing other Somali Americans into an ad-hoc response team.
Many feared they were being singled out, a worry that revived memories of the state surveillance and arbitrary authority they thought they had left behind when they resettled in the United States.
More than 100 volunteers now patrol south Minneapolis, distribute “Know Your Rights” guides and escort frightened elders — part of a sweeping grassroots effort to counter what many describe as constitutionally suspect raids that are destabilizing Minnesota’s roughly 80,000-strong Somali community, one of the country’s largest refugee populations.
“You would never fathom that people would just pluck you off the streets ... and say, ‘Prove to me that you’re a citizen,’” Mohamed said, referring to reports of aggressive tactics by the agents. “It’s not that we never thought it was impossible. We just believed the Constitution was going to protect us from this level of interrogation.”
TRUMP’S 3,000-AGENT PUSH SPARKS VOTER-INTIMIDATION FEARS
The deployment of 3,000 federal agents — ordered by Republican President Donald Trump — has intensified accusations from Democrats and local leaders that he is targeting a politically influential community ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, deepening fears that the operations amount to intimidation aimed at suppressing Somali voter turnout.
Trump, who has described Somalis as “garbage” who should be thrown out of the country, has said the operations are necessary to combat crime, though many of those arrested have no criminal charges or convictions. He has also cited a fraud scandal around the theft of federal funds for social-welfare programs in Minnesota to justify sending agents into the state, many of them from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Democrats and community leaders accuse the agents of harassing peaceful protesters, racial profiling and searching houses without warrants. Minneapolis has been on edge since the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Renee Good by an immigration agent on January 7.
“A lot of community members escaped war and this administration is triggering another war zone,” said Abdulahi Farah, co-chair of the Somali American Leadership Table, an advocacy group formed in response to hate crimes and political attacks on Somalis. He said Trump’s history of racist rhetoric against Black and other immigrants of color has emboldened far-right activists and had a destabilizing effect on small businesses and citizens’ general sense of safety.
Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement to Reuters that immigrants who are served administrative warrants or I-205 removal orders “have had full due process and a final order of removal from an immigration judge.”
PUSHING BACK AGAINST IMMIGRATION RAIDS
In Cedar-Riverside, a normally bustling Somali neighborhood lined with restaurants, boutique shops and convenience stores, business owners say activity is noticeably quieter since immigration agents arrived there last month.
“It’s been really slow,” said Rashid Jama, a grocery store manager in the neighborhood, also known as the West Bank. “A lot of our suppliers are Latino and they’re scared to come to work.”
The efforts of Mohamed, a third-year doctoral student at the University of Minnesota, are part of a broader wave of grassroots initiatives to push back by filming arrests, planning peaceful protests and accelerating voter outreach.
Some Somali Americans fear the raids are a bid to suppress voter turnout before midterm elections in November, according to over a dozen grassroots organizers, local officials and residents interviewed by Reuters.
“It’s signaling that if we get rid of them, if we scare them, they’re not going to come out to vote in the 2026 midterm election. We know that’s the target,” said Farah, whose group is partnering with other grassroots organizations to train people on priorities like opposing ICE raids as well as broader issues like affordability.
Mosques and neighboring community centers are now turning into political education hubs in Minnesota, local leaders said.
Civil rights advocates and scholars say the Minneapolis immigration operations echo past crackdowns in Black and Latino neighborhoods, fueling fears of political scapegoating, said political science professor Christina Greer at Fordham University.
Somali American voters have largely supported Democrats since refugees began resettling in the US in the 1990s, before becoming more politically active in the 2000s. US Representative Ilhan Omar is the community’s most high-profile member and a frequent target of racist attacks from Trump.
Asked about that and tactics of agents decried by residents, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement to Reuters that immigrants “who fail to contribute to our economy, rip off Americans and refuse to assimilate into our society should not be here.”
Minnesota Republican Party Chairman Alex Plechash denied the raids were politically driven, calling the charge “categorically false” but said complaints about aggressive tactics warrant review.
Some Somali community leaders say mobilizing voters will be a priority in the months ahead.
“The power we have is to vote,” said Abdullahi Kahiye, 37, who said he became a naturalized US citizen in 2024. “ICE and whoever is trying to terrorize the Somali community will not succeed.”
