Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping jointly condemned the United States on Thursday as they announced even closer strategic ties and reaffirmed their “no-limits” partnership in defiance of Western pressure.
In a clear snub to Washington, whose top diplomat flew to China last month urging Beijing to scale back its relationship with Moscow, Xi said the two leaders see eye-to-eye on defence and military cooperation including the war in Ukraine.
“The China-Russia relationship today is hard-earned, and the two sides need to cherish and nurture it,” Xi told Putin as the leaders met in Beijing.
“China is willing to ... jointly achieve the development and rejuvenation of our respective countries, and work together to uphold fairness and justice in the world.”
A joint statement spoke of concerns about what were described as US efforts to violate the strategic nuclear balance, about global US missile defence that threatened Russia and China, and about US plans for high precision non-nuclear weapons.
“Together we are defending the principles of justice and a democratic world order reflecting multipolar realities and based on international law,” Putin told Xi.
Putin’s visit comes weeks after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken flew to China to raise concerns about its support for Russia’s war in Ukraine and a day after he said Washington would continue to impose sanctions on Chinese firms supplying Russia’s military.
The trip appears to have been an unsuccessful attempt to undermine the “no limits” partnership proclaimed when Putin visited Beijing in February 2022, days before he invaded Ukraine.
China claims to take a neutral position in the conflict, but it has backed Moscow’s contentions that Russia was provoked into attacking Ukraine by the West, and continues to supply Russia with key components that Moscow needs for its productions of weapons.
A joint statement after Putin and Xi met said that both sides believe that for “a sustainable settlement of the Ukrainian crisis it is necessary to eliminate its root causes.”
China proposed a broadly worded peace plan in 2023, calling for a ceasefire and for direct talks between Moscow and Kyiv. But the plan was rejected by both Ukraine and the West for failing to call for Russia to leave occupied parts of Ukraine.
Putin’s largely symbolic visit stressed partnership between two countries who both face challenges in their relationship with the US and Europe.
“Both sides want to show that despite what is happening globally, despite the pressure that both sides are facing from the US, both sides are not about to turn their backs on each other anytime soon,” said Hoo Tiang Boon, a professor who researches Chinese foreign policy at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University.
Since 2022, Russia has become increasingly economically dependent on China as Western sanctions cut its access to much of the international trading system. China’s increased trade with Russia, totaling $240 billion last year, has helped the country mitigate some of the worst blowback from sanctions.
“I and President Putin agree, we should actively look for convergence points of the interests of both countries, to develop each’s other’s advantages, and deepen integration of interests, realising each others’ achievements,” Xi said.
Xi also congratulated Putin on his election to a fifth term in office and celebrated the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations forged between the former Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China, which was established following a civil war in 1949. Putin faced no credible opposition in the presidential race, and, like Xi, has not laid out any plans for any potential successors.
Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
