20231226 Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin 

Vladimir Putin has been providing Xi Jinping with occasional morsels of information to keep China on Russia's side. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by Getty Images and Reuters)

Analysis: Putin promises Xi to 'fight for five years' in Ukraine

Meant to keep China on Russia's side, the words in March prompted Beijing to hedge its bets

Katsuji Nakazawa is a Tokyo-based senior staff and editorial writer at Nikkei. He spent seven years in China as a correspondent and later as China bureau chief. He was the 2014 recipient of the Vaughn-Ueda International Journalist prize.

During a meeting in Moscow back in March, Russian President Vladimir Putin told his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping that Russia "will fight for [at least] five years" in Ukraine, sources have revealed.

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