China wants to promote ‘strategic cooperation’ with Russia
FOA News – Chinese President Xi Jinping had a phone call with Russian President Putin, calling for increased cooperation and opposing “external interference”.
President Xi Jinping (left) and President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in March 2023. Photo: AFP
In a phone call on February 8 with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping said that the two countries should “strengthen strategic cooperation, protect national sovereignty, security and development interests of each side”.
Mr. Xi also called on Beijing and Moscow to “resolutely oppose outside interference” in the two countries’ internal affairs. “We have overcome many challenges and sufferings together in the past. Looking to the future, the relationship between the two countries is facing many new development opportunities,” the Chinese President emphasized.
The Kremlin statement said the two leaders discussed in detail the situation in several regions of the world, including the Middle East, as well as war developments in Ukraine. “Mr. Putin and Mr. Xi affirmed that close cooperation between the two countries is an important factor contributing to stabilizing the world situation,” the statement said.
Chinese officials did not specifically mention Ukraine or the Middle East when announcing the phone call, but said the two leaders discussed “hot regional and international issues”.
Also during the phone call, the Presidents of China and Russia praised their trade cooperation relationship. In the context of bilateral trade turnover exceeding the 200 billion USD mark in 2023, earlier than the plan previously proposed by both sides.
China has criticized Israel’s attacks on the Gaza Strip and declared its support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The country also refused to condemn Russia’s campaign in Ukraine or impose sanctions on Moscow following Western calls.
In an interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson published on February 8, Mr. Putin emphasized that. Russia and China have “balanced and mutually complementary trade relations in the fields of high technology, energy, scientific research and development”. The Russian President also called Mr. Xi a “colleague and friend” as he has done many times before.
Russia and China agreed on an “unlimited” strategic partnership in February 2022. When President Putin arrived in Beijing to attend the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics, a few weeks before Russia launched its campaign in Ukraine.
Mr. Xi came to Russia in March 2023 on his first foreign trip after being elected President of China for a third term. President Putin also visited China in October 2023, one of his rare foreign trips since the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out.
The year 2024 marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Russia and China. Kremlin advisor Yury Ushakov said on February 8 that President Xi and President Putin will continue to have “close personal interactions” in the near future, but have no plans to visit each other.
Source (CNN, REUTERS)
