Beijing (AFP) – President Xi Jinping hailed China and Russia’s “unyielding” ties in talks with Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, as the pair met to underscore their alliance days after Donald Trump’s visit to Beijing. The two countries’ ties have deepened since Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, as Russia has become increasingly dependent on China, its main oil customer.
Putin was received by Xi outside Beijing’s opulent Great Hall of the People in much the same fashion as Trump last week, complete with chanting children and military fanfare. But the language was much warmer, with Xi telling the Russian leader that Beijing and Moscow have “continuously deepened our political mutual trust and strategic coordination with a resilience that remains unyielding”, according to Chinese state media.
Opening talks, both were quick to laud their countries’ special ties as they extended their treaty of “friendly cooperation.” Putin, quoting a Chinese phrase, told Xi: “A day apart feels like three autumns,” adding that relations had reached an “unprecedentedly high level” despite “unfavourable external factors,” Russian media footage showed.
In an apparent swipe at the United States, Xi warned of “unilateral and hegemonic countercurrents running rampant” in the world. In contrast to Trump’s visit last week, which yielded little in the way of immediate concrete announcements, Putin and Xi signed a slew of agreements on Wednesday on trade, media, and energy. The two leaders later had talks over tea, which the Kremlin had previously said would be reserved for “the most important issues” such as Ukraine, Iran, and relations with the US. That session lasted around 1.5 hours before Putin headed to the airport, according to Russian media.
Beneath the camaraderie, Putin is now perceived by many to be the junior partner in the relationship. The Russian leader has been weakened over four years of the Ukraine conflict, with his country’s economy shrinking in the first quarter of the year as factors such as wartime spending, labor shortages, and sanctions take their toll. Analysts believed Putin would use his visit to push for progress on the “Power of Siberia 2,” a major natural gas pipeline running from Russia to China through Mongolia. However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian media Wednesday that while the two sides had reached a “basic understanding” — including on “the route and how it will be built” — there was no “clear timeline,” and “there are still some details to be worked out.”
The US-Israeli war on Iran has hampered crude and gas flows from the Middle East, giving an opportunity for Putin to offer Russian energy sources as an alternative. “Russia and China are actively cooperating in the energy sector… We are, of course, ready to continue reliably supplying all these types of fuel to the rapidly growing Chinese market,” Putin said Wednesday. His priorities may differ from China’s, which wants the Middle East conflict concluded as soon as possible. Underlining that, Xi told Putin on Wednesday that “a comprehensive ceasefire is of utmost urgency; resuming hostilities is even more inadvisable, and maintaining negotiations is particularly important.”
Xi has played host to a series of world leaders as an increasingly unpredictable United States under Trump has pushed many to shore up alliances with Beijing. Many have urged him to use his influence with Russia and Iran to help bring an end to the respective conflicts there. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had asked Trump to discuss ending the war during his meetings with Xi last week. The pair did talk about the issue, but the US president left China without a breakthrough.
Beijing has regularly called for talks to end the war in Ukraine, but has never condemned Russia for sending in troops — presenting itself instead as a neutral party. The two leaders talked about Ukraine, Chinese state media said after the visit had ended, without giving further details. On Wednesday, Putin said that Russia and China were “committed to an independent and sovereign foreign policy.” In a joint statement released by the Kremlin, Russia said it “positively assesses the objective and unbiased position of the Chinese side regarding the situation in Ukraine and welcomes China’s aspiration to play a constructive role.”
© 2024 AFP
