Putin and Xi cooperate for cement in the face of Western pressure

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Presidents Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping agreed in a video conference on Wednesday that Russia and China should firmly oppose Western interference and protect common security interests.

Eight days after Putin reciprocates with US President Joe Biden, it highlights how close the mutual hostility to the West is between Moscow and Beijing.

“Currently, under the cover of ‘democracy’ and ‘human rights’, some international powers are interfering in the internal affairs of China and Russia and brutally overcoming the norms of international law and recognized international relations,” the Chinese government said. Xinhua News Agency said. The company quoted Shi as saying.

China and Russia should intensify their joint efforts to more effectively defend the security interests of both sides.

Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov told reporters he understood Moscow’s concerns and supported Xi’s insistence on Putin’s Western security guarantees for Russia.

He said they had expressed their “negative views” on the formation of new military alliances, such as the AUKUS alliance between Australia, Britain and the United States, and Australia, India, Japan and the United States “Quadruple” of the Indo-Pacific.

Pressure

The appeal highlights the way Russia and China are challenging each other for support at a time of high tension in relations with the West. China is under pressure for human rights and accused of behaving in a manner that threatens Ukraine.

The Kremlin said it briefed Putin on his talks with Biden in which the US president warned Russia against invading Ukraine – which Moscow denies was planned – and invited him to get Putin’s security pledge.

“Among other things, a new model of cooperation between our two countries has been developed based on principles such as non-interference in internal affairs and respect for common interests,” Putin told the Associated Press.

He said he was looking forward to meeting Xi at the Beijing Winter Olympics — the White House said last week that US government officials would boycott human rights abuses against Muslims in Xinjiang, western China.

“I would like to note that we have always supported each other on issues of international sports cooperation, including rejecting any attempt to politicize sports and the Olympic movement,” Putin said.

Putin has used the alliance between Russia and China to balance US influence and at the same time to strike lucrative deals, especially in the energy sector. Hu and Xi agreed to extend their friendship and cooperation agreement for 20 years this year.

The Russian head of state said bilateral trade rose 31% to $123 billion in the first eleven months of this year, and the two countries aim to exceed $200 billion in the future.

He said that China has become an international center for the production of Russian vaccines Sputnik and Sputnik Lite against COVID-19 and has signed agreements with six factories to produce more than 150 million doses.

Additional reporting by Ryan Wu and Ella Cao in Beijing; Edited by Gareth Jones by Mark Travellan

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