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President Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping vowed Thursday to cooperate against “destructive and hostile” pressure from the United States and deepen the relationship that has supported Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Chinese president met the Russian president, who arrived in Beijing before dawn, ahead of two days of talks aimed at emphasizing close ties between the leaders and strengthening China’s support for Russia’s wartime economy. They were welcomed in the great hall.
Putin’s state visit will be his first overseas trip since taking office for a fifth term last week, and comes after Secretary of State Antony Blinken last month urged China to end its support for Russia’s war in Ukraine. This was a clear rebuke to the United States.
Russia and China pledged to strengthen cooperation between their militaries and expand the scale of joint exercises in a lengthy joint statement, and Putin’s new defense secretary and head of the Security Council also spoke to Xi at a dinner late Thursday night. He was scheduled to attend a private meeting with .
In his opening comments, President Putin praised the economic ties between Russia and China, calling their partnership “one of the main stabilizing factors in the international arena.”
Before signing a statement on deepening strategic partnership, President Xi said he and Putin had mutually provided “strategic guidance” and emphasized the “friendly relations” between Russia and China.
The statement condemned the United States’ nuclear missile deployment, which threatens Russia and China, and the Oaks alliance between the United States and Britain and Australia.
Russia and China “will strengthen exchanges and strengthen cooperation to counter the destructive and hostile policy of the United States towards the so-called ‘dual containment’ of both countries,” the statement said.
Russia has welcomed China’s efforts to broker peace with Ukraine, but so far it has largely gone along with the Kremlin’s claims.
The two countries also vowed to deepen economic ties, which have emerged as a key lifeline supporting Russia after Western sanctions against Ukraine cut it off from global markets and supply chains.
The statement condemns the attempt to seize sovereign assets, an apparent reference to Western discussions over giving some of Russia’s frozen sovereign funds to Ukraine, and states that countries reserve the right to respond. Then he said.
After the outbreak of the Ukraine war, Russia and China recorded a significant increase in trade, but the US warned that it could target Chinese companies found to be funding the Kremlin’s war machine. There are signs that the Chinese government has retreated somewhat in response.
China’s exports to the neighboring country fell in March and April after the United States threatened to target Chinese banks, claiming they were helping evade sanctions.
The Russian delegation included many top business officials, energy industry executives and heads of major banks, but there were signs of limits to deepening economic ties with China.
Alexei Miller, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin and head of state gas export monopoly Gazprom, was conspicuously absent from the Russian delegation, indicating little progress has been made on the long-awaited Power of Siberia 2 pipeline.
Negotiations over the project, which Russia hopes will replace lost gas exports to Europe, have been delayed by disagreements between Russia and China over key details.
The Russian delegation included senior officials responsible for increasing defense production, including Denis Manturov, who was recently elevated to the role of first deputy prime minister overseeing the defense sector.
The head of Russia’s space cooperation and military-technical cooperation was also scheduled to take part in small talks with Putin.
According to the Kremlin, President Putin and Mr. Xi will then engage in more delicate discussions with new Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, his predecessor Sergei Shoigu (currently Secretary of the Security Council), and two of the Russian president’s top foreign policy officials. He previously announced that he was planning to take a walk alone. .
President Putin will join Chinese leaders to lay flowers to Soviet soldiers in northeast China on Friday before attending the China-Russia expo, Chinese business newspaper Caixin reported.
Chinese leaders have said little publicly about the visit. Analysts say the Chinese government has escalated tensions with key trading partners of the European Union and the United States, which have accused China of fueling overcapacity to boost weak economic growth and launched anti-dumping investigations. He said he is focusing on stabilizing the situation.
