GREAT POWER GAMES: Xi’s embrace of Putin dents his chances of playing peacemaker on Ukraine.

China President Xi Jinping will deliver a strong message of support for Vladimir Putin with his three-day visit to Moscow this week, even as he pitches Beijing’s proposals for brokering an end to the Russian leader’s war in Ukraine.

Xi’s trip marks his most ambitious effort yet to weigh into Europe’s bloodiest conflict since the Second World War and will be followed by his first conversation with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy since Putin’s February 2022 invasion. It comes on the heels of China’s successful efforts to help Iran and Saudi Arabia patch up years of discord.

But while Xi’s “rock solid” backing of Putin ensures a warm welcome in Moscow on his first trip abroad since securing a third term as president, it also makes him a harder sell as an honest broker to mediate an end to the war. Both Moscow and Kyiv have been cool to China’s vague peace proposals, which Ukraine’s allies in the U.S. and Europe dismissed outright.

The longer Putin’s stupid war drags on, the more dependent Russia becomes on China. That might matter much more to Xi than playing peacemaker.