China Playing Peacemaker to Show 'US Is Finished'

Fresh from its diplomatic coup helping renew relations between regional rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia, China appears to have its sights set on playing superpower peacemaker in another conflict: Russia's war in Ukraine.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is scheduled to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow as soon as next week. After that, a sit-down with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is on the docket. The purpose of the visits is to allow Xi to pitch Beijing as the ideal mediator to secure a potential peace deal to bring an end to the bloody war, The Wall Street Journal reports.