On Monday, Chinese President Xi Jinping is paying a state visit to Moscow.
According to some commentators, China is about to step up its support for Russia in Ukraine.
Others assert that Xi wants to mediate a settlement of the conflict.
Xi Jinping, the president of China, arrived in Moscow on Monday for a three-day meeting with Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia.
While there, he will have to decide whether to continue China's conflicted stance on Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine or intensify China's backing for Russia.
A spokeswoman for the Chinese foreign ministry said in announcing Xi's visit that China would uphold "an objective and fair stance" on the conflict in Ukraine and "take an active part in helping to fair attitude" on the Ukrainian situation and "play a constructive role in advancing peace talks."
According to some experts, the veneer of impartiality is starting to crumble and Xi is disclosing his genuine intentions by visiting Putin, a global outcast who is currently the target of an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court due to the acts of his troops in Ukraine.
In a phone interview with Insider, Jonathan Ward, the founder of the Atlas Organization, a US consulting firm specializing in Chinese and Indian national strategy, said that this fits into a much larger strategic framework where a Russia-China axis is developing and they have been strengthening their military ties for the past ten years.