Putin lauds Chinese peace plan for Ukraine

Moscow, March 21 Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Kremlin for official talks on Tuesday.

Speaking after the meeting alongside Xi, Putin lauded the 12-point peace roadmap for Ukraine recently floated by Beijing, RT reported.

"We believe that many of the provisions of the peace plan put forward by China are consonant with the Russian stance and can be taken as a foundation for a peaceful settlement when they are ready for it in the West and in Kiev. However, so far we have not observed such readiness on their part," Putin stated, RT reported.

The two leaders met behind closed doors first, with a number of top officials, including Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev and Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu taking part in the negotiations on the Russian side.

The meeting was followed by another round of talks with expanded delegations, involving more government ministers and the heads of Russian state corporations, RT reported.

On Monday, Xi and Putin held almost five hours of informal talks behind closed doors.

President Xi's visit is his first to Russia since the outbreak of the Moscow-Kiev conflict, and also his first foreign trip since securing an unprecedented third term as China's head of state.