Body language experts say Xi looked at Putin ‘like a younger brother’ and holds the power over Putin

A body language expert has said Chinese President Xi Jinping looked at his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin ‘like a younger brother’ at Monday’s televised first meeting of Xi’s state visit to Moscow. 

The expert said Xi came across as more relaxed and commanding and revealed other tell-tale signs that the Chinese leader now holds all the power as the two days of talks for Xi’s state visit to Moscow concluded today.

Karen Leong, Managing Director of Singapore-headquartered Influence Solutions, said Xi had pre-empted Putin by a split-second in reaching out for their set-piece handshake, suggesting that ‘even though he is the one visiting Moscow, he is the one who is going to be taking the lead in this relationship’.

Louise Mahler, a body language and leadership behaviour expert based in Melbourne, Australia, took a similar view, noting that Xi had placed his hand on top of Putin’s, something that could also indicate a measure of dominance in the exchange.

When they sat together for polite exchanges through translators, greeting each other as ‘dear friend’, Mahler said Putin had slouched, twitched his leg, clenched his fist and looked at the floor, suggesting underlying agitation.

Xi, meanwhile, appeared ‘settled and confident’.

Leong noticed the same tics in Putin, contrasting with an outwardly relaxed demeanour.

‘If you juxtapose it with Xi, Xi is the composed statesman,’ she said. ‘He has a lot of gravitas, great eye contact, he is looking at Putin as an older brother looks … [at a] more junior, younger partner.’

Putin, 70, is a few months older than Xi, 69, and has been in power more than twice as long.

Leong said Xi had offered a sign that he too had been feeling some pressure, blinking unusually frequently during the sit-down.

Kim Hyung-hee, director of the Korea Body Language Lab, said the tight grip of the handshake and the occasions where the men tried to avoid eye contact showed that there was plenty at stake for both.

‘They have high expectations about the meeting. You can see tension there – and you know there are no real friends in politics.’

Rumours about the Russian president’s declining health, mental state and unstable position have swirled since long before he ordered the invasion on February 24, 2022. In the year since, the rumours have only intensified as the war appears to have taken its toll.

Footage from official meetings and appearances has shown him gripping a table for support, tapping his feet seemingly uncontrollably, and looking unsteady as he walked – while in recent years he has grown puffy and bloated.

Putin was seen limping as he made a surprise visit to Crimea on Saturday on amid claims he is suffering health problems, a day after war crimes arrest warrant was issued for the Russian leader.

His visit marked the ninth anniversary of Russia’s annexation of the peninsula from Ukraine.

Footage appeared to show Putin in naval port Sevastopol which has been targeted by repeated Ukrainian strikes in recent months.

His arrival came one day after the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for his arrest on war crimes accusations.

Putin was seen with his placeman Mikhail Razvozhayev, governor of occupied Sevastopol, surrounded by six bulky bodyguards evidently wearing bullet proof jackets.

The leader appeared to be in discomfort when he walked in contrast to earlier appearances last week in Moscow and Siberian city Ulan-Ude. 

Western countries are certain to pore over every detail of the talks between two of the world’s most powerful but secretive leaders, as Putin seeks Xi’s backing for the invasion of Ukraine and his help in filling the gaps in trade left by sweeping Western sanctions. 

Putin said after talks with Xi in the Kremlin 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 ceasefire 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 ceasefire 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.

As the two days of talks concluded on Tuesday, Xi and his Russian counterpart stressed that ‘responsible dialogue’ is the best way to steadily solve the Ukraine crisis, China’s state media reported.

The Russian side reaffirmed its commitment to resuming peace talks as soon as possible, according to Chinese state media.

The two sides pointed out that to resolve the Ukraine crisis, the ‘legitimate security concerns’ of all countries must be respected and that confrontation between camps should be avoided, Chinese state media reported. 

Xi said on Tuesday that Beijing had an ‘impartial position’ on the conflict in Ukraine and that it supported peace and dialogue, RIA news agency said.

Xi, who was speaking through a translator after talks with Putin, said talks with the Kremlin leader had been ‘open and friendly.’ 

Putin, speaking after talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Moscow, said on Tuesday the two leaders had paid great attention to Beijing’s peace proposals during a one-on-one meeting.

Putin hailed Russia’s growing trade, energy and political ties with China aimed at cementing their countries’ ‘no limits’ partnership.

The two leaders signed a series of documents on a ‘strategic cooperation’ after what Putin described as ‘successful and constructive’ talks which showed that 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 him over Russia’s actions in Ukraine, where Russian forces have made little progress in recent months despite suffering heavy losses.

Putin said Russia, China and Mongolia had completed all agreements on a planned Power of Siberia 2 pipeline, which will ship Russian gas to China, and that Moscow was ready to increase oil exports to Beijing.

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Putin 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 metres (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’.

‘The early harvest of [our] cooperation can be seen, and further cooperation is being advanced,’ Xi told Putin, according to Hong Kong cable television.

Russia’s Gazprom already supplies gas to China through the 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. Since the start of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022, volumes to Europe have shrunk, reaching about 62 bcm in 2022.

Putin said on Tuesday Russia would deliver at least 98 bcm of gas to China by 2030. 

Xi invited his Russian counterpart to visit China in 2023, the state RIA news agency said on Tuesday 

Putin said on Tuesday a Chinese peace plan could provide a basis for a settlement of the fighting in Ukraine when the West is ready for it.

Speaking after talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Putin charged that Ukraine’s Western allies so far have shown no interest in that.

He also said British plans to provide Ukraine with ammunition for battle tanks containing depleted uranium, saying it heralds the West switching to supplying Kyiv with weapons containing nuclear components. He said that Russia will respond if it happens, but did not elaborate. 

Washington has denounced Xi’s state visit, saying the timing just days after an international court accused Putin of war crimes indicated Beijing was providing Moscow with ‘diplomatic cover’ to commit additional crimes.

It was Xi’s first trip abroad since he obtained an unprecedented third term last month. The Chinese leader has been trying to portray Beijing as a potential peacemaker in Ukraine, even as he deepens economic ties with his closest ally.

Putin and Xi greeted one another as ‘dear friend’ when they met in the Kremlin on Monday, and Russian state news agencies later reported they held informal talks for nearly four and a half hours, with more official talks scheduled for Tuesday.

In televised comments, Putin told Xi he viewed China’s proposals for resolution of the Ukraine conflict with respect. He confessed to being ‘slightly envious’ of China’s ‘very effective system for developing the economy and strengthening the state’.

Xi, for his part, praised Putin and predicted Russians would re-elect him next year.

Moscow has been publicly promoting plans for a visit by Xi for months. But the timing gave the Chinese leader’s personal support new meaning, after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant on Friday accusing Putin of war crimes for deporting children from Ukraine.

Moscow denies illegally deporting children, saying it has taken in orphans to protect them. It opened a criminal case against the court’s prosecutor and judges. Beijing said the warrant reflected double standards.

The West says the warrant should make the Russian leader a pariah.

‘That President Xi is travelling to Russia days after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for President Putin suggests that China feels no responsibility to hold the Kremlin accountable for the atrocities committed in Ukraine,’ US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.

‘Instead of even condemning them, it would rather provide diplomatic cover for Russia to continue to commit those grave crimes.

White House spokesman John Kirby said Xi should use his influence to press Putin to withdraw troops from Ukraine, and Washington was concerned that Beijing might instead call for a ceasefire that would let Russian troops stay.

China has released a proposal to solve the Ukraine crisis, largely dismissed in the West as a ploy to buy Putin time to regroup his forces and solidify his grip on occupied land.

Washington has said in recent weeks it fears China might arm Russia, which Beijing has denied.

Foreign policy analysts said while Putin would be looking for strong support from Xi over Ukraine, they doubted his Moscow visit would result in any military backing.

‘China appears to be more interested in acting as a mediator for peace initiatives with regard to Ukraine than increasing support for the Russian invasion,’ said Robert Murrett, deputy director of the Institute for Security Policy and Law at Syracuse University.

Kyiv, which says the war cannot end until Russia pulls out its troops, cautiously welcomed Beijing’s peace proposal when it was unveiled last month.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said that China arming Russia could lead to World War Three and has called for Xi to speak to him.

Russia’s defence ministry said a Russian Su-35 fighter jet was scrambled over the Baltic Sea on Monday after two U.S. strategic bombers flew in the direction of the Russian border, but that it returned to base after they moved away.

The development followed the March 14 crash of a US military surveillance drone into the Black Sea after it was intercepted by Russian jets, in the first known direct military encounter between Russia and the United States since Russia invaded Ukraine.

Several European Union countries agreed in Brussels on Monday to jointly buy 1 million rounds of 155 mm artillery shells for Ukraine. Both sides fire thousands of rounds per day.

The United States announced its latest military aid package, worth $350 million, including more ammunition for HIMARS rocket launchers, howitzers and Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles, plus HARM missiles, anti-tank weapons and river boats

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida made a surprise visit Tuesday to Kyiv, stealing some of the global attention from Asian rival President Xi Jinping of China, who is in Moscow to show support for Russia against the West over the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine.

The two visits, about 800 kilometers (500 miles) apart, highlighted the nearly 13-month-old war’s repercussions for international diplomacy as countries line up behind Moscow or Kyiv. They follow a week in which China and Japan both enjoyed diplomatic successes that have emboldened their foreign policy.

Kishida, who is to chair the Group of Seven summit in May, will meet President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Ukrainian capital, coinciding with Xi’s talks for a second day with President Vladimir Putin in the Russian capital.

Japan has contributed more than $7 billion to Ukraine, and accepted more than 2,000 displaced Ukrainians and helped them with housing assistance and support for jobs and education, a rare move in a country that is known for its strict immigration policy.

Russia’s invasion has laid waste to Ukrainian cities, caused millions of people to flee and killed tens of thousands of civilians.

Fierce fighting continued Tuesday in the eastern Ukrainian town of Bakhmut, where Ukrainian forces have held out since last summer in the longest and bloodiest battle of the war.

Moscow, which has not scored a major victory since August, has launched a massive winter offensive involving hundreds of thousands of freshly called-up reservists and convicts recruited from jails.

Ukraine, which recaptured swathes of territory in the second half of 2022, has kept mainly to defence since November, aiming to deplete Russia’s attacking forces before launching a planned counteroffensive of its own.