On Wednesday Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin signed a joint statement in Moscow promising to deepen their strategic partnership and stressing the importance of “settling the Ukraine crisis through dialogue”. Megan Gibson in London and Katie Stallard in Washington DC discuss how Xi has attempted to frame his visit as a “journey for peace” and what really sustains his relationship with the Russian president.

Next they turn to the 20th anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq and the lessons that have – and have not – been learned from the catastrophe, as well as enduring political legacy of the conflict.

Then in You Ask Us, a listener asks: “If Donald Trump is arrested, how will it affect his 2024 presidential campaign?”

Read more:

Xi Jinping’s desperate gamble on Vladimir Putin

China’s hollow peace plan for Ukraine

The poisoned peacemaker: why China can’t abandon Putin

After Iraq: the great unravelling

The US is readying itself for another moral crusade, this time against China

The long shadow of the Iraq War

Donald Trump’s indictment would be a gift to Ron DeSantis 

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