China is on a tightrope as Putin is looking for a deeper alliance regarding the Ukraine War

China's Xi faces growing pressure over Putin's Ukraine war during the Russian leader's Beijing visit, weighing deepening ties against Western sanctions threats and economic risks.

Russian President Vladimir Putin came to Beijing today for a state visit, to request more support from China as his invasion of Ukraine is going on for its third year. Nevertheless, Chinese President Xi Jinping is in a complex situation of how much to support his "dear friend" Putin in the face of the increasing Western accusations that China is helping to break the sanctions.

Putin welcomed the two countries' "unprecedented" relations before the visit. Nevertheless, Beijing has not condemned Moscow's war, but it is under increasing American and European pressure over the exports of technology that is allegedly used by Russia's military. New U. S. sanctions imposed on Chinese companies suspected of supporting sanctions evasion.

"China is neither the creator of the crisis nor a party to it," said Xi during a recent Europe trip, restating Beijing's position of neutrality on the war. Nevertheless, the Chinese state media still justifies Russia's invasion as a reaction to NATO's expansion.

For Xi, the Putin partnership is regarded as the main means to fight Western influence, whereas the increasing Russia-China trade compensates for the low energy imports. Nevertheless, there are indications that Beijing is now lessening the "no limits" alliance as the costs increase.

"China does not condone some of the tactics of Russia, for example, the threats of using nuclear weapons," Zhao Tong of the Carnegie Endowment said, adding the fact that Beijing wants to keep its legitimacy on the world stage.

Although censorship prevents open opposition, some Chinese voices are now asking Putin to give up his failed Ukraine campaign. Moreover, a Ukrainian diaspora group is trying to convey Kyiv's viewpoint through social media translations.

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The human losses continue, and Xi has presented himself as a possible peacemaker. Now, after the peacemaking efforts have been stopped, he must consider how much economic risk China will be ready to take to keep up Putin's faltering war.