Visiting Beijing on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin proved that the mutually described “no-limits partnership” between Russia and China is flourishing.

The two leaders did little to hide their disdain for their Western interlocutors. Chinese President Xi Jinping repudiated French President Emmanuel Macron’s recent and rather pathetic encouragement that Xi pressure Putin into ending the war in Ukraine. Instead, Xi and Putin affirmed that while they support a “political solution” to the war, that solution must respect everyone’s security interests. This is coded language for a solution that leads to Russia’s domination over Ukraine’s political sovereignty. That Xi or Putin has any interest in a meaningful negotiated settlement is unserious. The opposite is proved by Russian offensive action targeting Kharkiv and a recent Russian warning that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s “fate is definitely sealed.”