The leaders of China and Russia began summit talks on Wednesday on the margins of the Third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation under way in Beijing.

According to the state-run Chinese Central Television(CCTV), Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin started the meeting after the forum's opening ceremony, some seven months after their meeting in Moscow.

The leaders are expected to discuss ways to resolve the ongoing war between Israel and Palestine's Hamas militants, as explained by Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov in a press conference on Tuesday while noting that the conflict has become a major issue for all world leaders.

China and Russia, both of whom have maintained amicable relations with both Israel and Palestine, have taken a noticeably different stance on the latest war compared to Western nations such as the U.S.

Criticizing Israel's retaliatory strike against Hamas in Gaza for going beyond the scope of self-defense, Beijing has called for the resumption of peace negotiations that intrinsically include the establishment of Palestine as an autonomous state.

Moscow, which has focused on calling for an immediate ceasefire, drafted a United Nations Security Council resolution last week that was voted down for lacking a direct reference to Hamas.