Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin signed a statement in Beijing on Wednesday calling for further deepening of strategic cooperation and relations between their countries. The head of the Kremlin previously declared that the relations between Russia and China are at an unprecedented level and have a positive development. TASR informs about it according to the reports of Reuters and TASS agencies.
In short:
- Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin signed a declaration on deepening cooperation in Beijing
- Putin described the relations between Russia and China as unprecedented and developing positively
- China and Russia have condemned the US and Israeli attacks on Iran as a violation of law
Xi Jinping received Putin just days after US President Donald Trump visited China last week for the first time since 2017.
Strategic partnership
At the beginning of the public part of the negotiations with Putin, Xi declared that China and Russia should strengthen their strategic partnership and cooperation in the current unstable era. The Russian president described the relationship between the two countries as one of the most important stabilizing factors on the international scene.
The joint statement of the presidents emphasizes, among other things, that the efforts of some states to control the events of the world as in the days of colonialism have failed, and warns against the return of the law of the jungle. “The situation in the world is becoming more and more complex,” states the text of the document, which also rejects “manifestations of hegemony and the politics of coercion.”
Criticism of confrontational politics
The leaders of China and Russia have expressed serious concern about the confrontational policy of some countries. In this context, China noted “Russia’s concern about the European Union’s tendency towards militarization”. They also condemned the US and Israeli attacks on Iran as a violation of international law and called on the parties to the conflict to come to the negotiating table and prevent its expansion.
On the issue of the war in Ukraine, according to the statement, China and Russia agree that it is necessary to eliminate the root causes of its outbreak. Russia, whose troops invaded neighboring Ukraine in February 2022, repeatedly calls for this. Moscow also appreciates Beijing’s “objective and independent attitude” towards Ukraine, according to the statement. Putin and Xi will discuss this conflict, as well as the war in Iran and relations with the US, later over tea, said Yuriy Ushakov, an adviser to the Russian president.
Energy cooperation
Cooperation in the field of energy was described by Putin as “the driving force of Russian-Chinese cooperation”. The head of the Kremlin noted that Russia is ready to continue ensuring smooth supplies of oil and gas to the Chinese market.
“I would like to note that Russia and China are actively cooperating in the field of energy. Our country is one of the largest exporters of oil, natural gas – including liquefied gas – and coal to China. Of course, we are ready to continue to reliably ensure continuous supplies of all these raw materials to the rapidly growing Chinese market,” emphasized the Russian president, quoted by the TASS agency.
The DPA agency, citing data from the Russian government, said that last year Russia supplied China with 101 million tons of oil and 49 billion cubic meters of natural gas. At the same time, she recalled the words of the Russian president, who declared in Beijing that despite unfavorable external factors, economic cooperation between Russia and China shows good dynamics, when over the past quarter of a century, trade between the two countries has increased thirtyfold and has been above the level of 200 billion US dollars for years.
Gas pipeline project
One of the topics of the negotiations of the delegations in Beijing was also the Sila Siberia 2 gas pipeline project, which should stretch 2,600 kilometers from the Yamal Peninsula in northern Siberia through Mongolia to China. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the parties had agreed only on basic parameters, including the route and method of construction. According to Peskov, it is not yet clear when it should be built.
