Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed Beijing’s “genuine desire” to help resolve the Ukraine crisis, in an interview with Chinese state media published Wednesday ahead of a two-day visit to the country.

Putin arrives in Beijing on Thursday to meet his “dear friend” Xi Jinping, seeking to win greater support from China for his war effort in Ukraine and isolated economy.

The visit, in which he will also travel to the northeastern city of Harbin for a trade and investment expo, is Putin’s first trip abroad since his March re-election and his second in just over six months to China.

“We commend China’s approaches to resolving the crisis in Ukraine,” Putin told the Xinhua state news agency in a Moscow interview, which was also carried in English on the Kremlin website.