- Xi is frustrated that Putin won't seek peace in Ukraine, reports say.
- China has touted a 12-point peace plan for Ukraine that Russia hasn't pursued.
China's leader, Xi Jinping, has been Russian President Vladimir Putin's most important international backer amid the war in Ukraine, with the authoritarian leaders declaring a "no limits" partnership from the outset of the conflict.
But as the war drags on, it seems that China's patience with the Kremlin may be beginning to wear thin, reports say.
A Russian insider told The Institute for the Study of War, a military think-tank, that Moscow had rejected a 12-point peace plan touted by China in February.
They added that members of the Chinese elite were growing increasingly frustrated with the Kremlin's intransigence.
The Financial Times reported that Chinese diplomats who were at a summit to discuss a potential resolution to the conflict in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia last weekend were keen to show "China is not Russia." A European diplomat present at the discussions told the FT that China's presence showed Russia was "more and more isolated."
Russia mocked the meeting, saying it was "doomed to fail."
Xi and Putin bond over opposition to US
China has provided Russia with vital diplomatic and economic support during the conflict, handing Putin a lifeline at a time when Western nations severed their economic ties to Russia and sought to isolate the state over its actions in Ukraine.
Military analysts have told Insider that Xi and Putin shared a deep resentment of US global power and Xi saw the Ukraine war as a way of delivering a blow to the US, Ukraine's most important international backer.
But core differences remain between the leaders. Xi has not yet provided Russia with the military support it's requested in Ukraine and has aggravated Moscow by refusing to approve a new gas pipeline from Siberia that'd give the Kremlin's revenues a crucial boost.
China has also shown signs of being rattled by June's Wagner Group uprising against the Kremlin and being anxious about Russia's nuclear threats against its Western foes.
China's attendance at the Jeddah summit was a further indication of the growing distance between Moscow and Beijing.
Some military experts say China is attempting to perform a balancing act, offering key backing to Russia while seeking to avoid aggravating Ukraine's European allies, whose economies Beijing relies on.
"It aims to demonstrate to the West that it is interested in advancing a diplomatic settlement to the war—and to remind the West that it may be the only country capable of inducing Russia to change course. It also hopes to earn plaudits beyond the West," Ali Wyne, an analyst with the Eurasia Group, told Insider.
China refused to attend a June summit held to discuss Ukraine's peace demands in Denmark. Its plan to end the war was dismissed by the US as hugely biased in favor of Russia and as an assembly of Russian talking points.
But the FT reported participants at the Saudi conference hailed China's attendance as a massive win for Kyiv in its bid to diplomatically isolate Russia, with China reportedly agreeing to attend future conferences.
Some military analysts say Xi sees important clout to be gained in playing the role of international peace broker and has successfully mediated recent discussions between longtime regional foes Iran and Saudi Arabia.
But Wyne said excessive faith in China's intervention to secure peace in Ukraine might be misguided.
There is little evidence "that China will fundamentally recalibrate its ties with Russia in an attempt to end the war," he said. "Beijing believes that its relationship with Moscow can help it to offset growing military and economic pressure from the West."