Chinese leader Xi Jinping welcomed Russian President Vladimir Putin to Beijing on Tuesday for the start of a visit expected to underscore the two leaders’ shared vision for a new international order no longer dominated by the United States and its democratic allies.

The meeting between the world’s two most powerful autocrats comes as geopolitical fault lines harden globally – first following Russia’s grinding invasion of Ukraine, launched just three weeks after the leaders’ last meeting in the Chinese capital in 2022 – and now as Israel’s war against Palestinian militant group Hamas threatens to spiral into a broader conflict that could shatter stability in the Middle East.

Both Beijing and Moscow have criticized Israel’s actions and called for a ceasefire, in the latest showing of the two powers’ efforts to step up their alternative leadership to that of the US, which affirms Israel’s on-going right to retaliate.

Putin’s visit to Beijing comes as US President Joe Biden prepares to travel to Israel on Wednesday. Biden is expected to give a high-profile show of support for Israel as it attempts to eliminate Hamas, while the US presses for ways to ease humanitarian suffering in Gaza and warns other regional players about becoming further engaged in the conflict.

Xi and Putin are expected to discuss the situation in Gaza during a bilateral meeting Wednesday ahead of the opening ceremony for the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing – an exceptionally rare foreign trip for the diplomatically isolated leader who is treated in Beijing as a guest of honor.

Heads of state, representatives and delegations from more than 140 countries are expected to attend China’s landmark, two-day diplomatic event beginning Tuesday, which marks 10 years since the start of Xi’s global infrastructure funding drive, and presents the Chinese leader with an opportunity to project Beijing’s growing global ambitions.

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