Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday told Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) that their countries’ ties were at an “unprecedented level,” during talks in Beijing ahead of a massive military parade.
Today’s showcase of China’s might has been seized by world leaders as an opportunity to hold rare face-to-face talks, with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un expected to hold summits with both Putin and Xi, according to South Korean sources.
Xi himself has embarked on a flurry of diplomatic meetings this week, including attendance at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in the northern city of Tianjin — a forum that China sees as an alternative to Western-dominated international cooperation.
Photo: Sputnik / Alexander Kazakov / Reuters
Meeting Xi yesterday, Putin told him “our close communication reflects the strategic nature of Russian-Chinese ties, which are currently at an unprecedented level,” according to a pooled live feed.
In a nod to cooperation between the two countries during World War II, Putin said “we were always together then, and we remain together now.”
Xi and Putin have also both met with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, as Tehran faces the reimposition of European sanctions over its nuclear program.
Xi told Pezeshkian China opposed the “use of force to resolve differences,” but said it “supports Iran in safeguarding its national sovereignty.”
The military parade marks 80 years since the end of World War II and is to be attended by about two dozen world leaders, including Kim in his first visit to China since 2019.
Kim is expected to mingle with other world leaders at a gala performance, as well as meet Xi and Putin for talks, Lee Seong-kweun, a South Korean lawmaker briefed by Seoul’s spy agency, told reporters.
Putin yesterday also met with Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico, praising his country’s “independent foreign policy.”
Fico has irked European leaders by criticizing the EU’s support for Ukraine and pushing back against efforts to cut energy imports from Russia. Slovakia is highly reliant on Russian gas.
The Chinese and Russian leaders criticized Western governments during the summit on Monday, where Xi slammed “bullying behavior” from certain countries — a veiled reference to the US — while Putin defended Russia’s Ukraine offensive and blamed the West for triggering the conflict.
“China-Russia relations have withstood the test of international changes,” Xi told Putin yesterday.
Xi added that Beijing was willing to work with Moscow to “promote the construction of a more just and reasonable global governance system.”
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