Just before Wednesday's Putin-Xi virtual summit, the Kremlin described that the meeting among allies is essential as at this moment "We see very, very aggressive rhetoric on the NATO and US side, and this requires discussion between us and the Chinese." China's Foreign Ministry had said the meeting would "further enhance the high-level mutual trust between the two sides."
As expected, both leaders emphasized the need to resist "interference" in their countries' internal affairs from the West and in particular the United States. "A new model of cooperation has been formed between our countries, based among other things on such principles as not interfering in internal affairs [of each other], respect for each other’s interests, determination to turn the shared border into a belt of eternal peace and good neighborliness," Putin told his Chinese counterpart.
In the discussion which lasted from 4:07 p.m. to 5:21 p.m. Beijing time, Xi responded by affirming that the Russian president "strongly supported China’s efforts to protect key national interests and firmly opposed attempts to drive a wedge between our countries." Bloomberg characterized the tone of the meeting as between two leaders that are 'closer than allies': "Chinese President Xi Jinping hailed relations with Russia as better than an alliance in a video call with President Vladimir Putin, according to the Kremlin, as the two leaders made a show of solidarity amid rising tensions with the West."
Calling Putin "an old friend," Xi described relations with Russia as going beyond that of traditional allies and partners, saying, "Such a figurative expression very accurately reflects the essence of what is happening now in relations between our two countries." He said the Russian president had "firmly supported China in defending its core interests and opposed attempts to divide China and Russia," according to state broadcaster CCTV.
The summit comes a week after the Biden-Putin virtual summit, wherein the Russian leader pressed for dialogue to put in place a plan for legal guarantees that NATO would not expand further eastward near Russia's border. On Wednesday China's Xi declared formal support for this central security concern of Russia's:
Putin won support from Xi for his push to obtain binding security guarantees for Russia from the West, a Kremlin official said, according to Reuters.
Russia wants the United States and NATO to guarantee the military alliance will not expand further eastward or deploy weapons systems in Ukraine and other countries on Russia’s border.
No comments:
Post a Comment