In defiance of the West, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin held their first face-to-face meeting since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine on Thursday.
The two leaders met in former Soviet Uzbekistan on the margins of a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), sitting across from one another at two long round tables and accompanied by aides.
Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping Meets in Person
The encounter gave Putin the opportunity to demonstrate that, despite Western attempts, Russia has not been completely isolated as part of Xi's first travel outside since the early days of the outbreak. Xi was also quoted by CCTV as adding that China was ready to cooperate with Russia to advance "each other's vital interests".
The United States, which has been driving measures to support Ukraine and impose sanctions on Russia, was explicitly targeted by Putin. It was their first encounter in person since Putin and Xi met at the Winter Olympics in early February, just days before the Russian president began his military attack in Ukraine.
The SCO summit in Samarkand, an old Silk Road city, has been hailed by the Kremlin as evidence that there is an "alternative" to Western-dominated international organizations, NDTV reported. The SCO, comprised of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan as well as China, India, Pakistan, and Russia, was founded in 2001 as a political, economic, and security organization to compete with Western institutions.
Along with the presidents of Turkey, Belarus, and Iran, as well as Presidents Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and Ebrahim Raisi of Iran, were all expected to attend. Earlier on Thursday, Putin met with the presidents of Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan, as well as Raisi and the prime minister of Pakistan, Shehbaz Sharif.
He stated that relations with Raisi and Sharif were "growing favorably," and the Iranian leader informed Putin that sanctions imposed on both nations by the US will only strengthen their bond.
While Moscow has backed Beijing and chastised Washington over US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's travel to Taipei in August, China has made it clear that it supports Russia's activities in Ukraine. Beijing's response to her visit included extraordinary military exercises near the island that is self-governing and democratic and that Beijing claims as its own.
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US Warns China Against Supporting Russia
The White House made an effort to minimize the significance of the meeting between Putin and Xi on Thursday by asserting that Beijing has not yet transgressed Western sanctions against Moscow or given direct material support to Russia.
"Our message to China has, I think, been consistent: that given what Mr. Putin has done inside of Ukraine, this is not the time for any kind of business as usual with Putin. The time is not now to isolate oneself from the rest of the world, which has largely denounced what he is doing in Ukraine and has gone above and beyond to support the Ukrainian people in defending their sovereignty and territorial integrity, John Kirby, the National Security Council's strategic communications coordinator, told CNN.
Putin, according to Kirby, is "really under pressure and stress. His army is struggling in Ukraine, and "I think it certainly behooves the Kremlin to want to warm up to Beijing with respect to what's going on there," Kirby added.
In their discussion on Thursday, Putin denounced American "provocations" in the Taiwan Strait and denounced efforts to "build a unipolar world," which he claimed have "recently taken an ugly shape and are utterly unacceptable to most states on the earth."
The summit is taking place against a backdrop of hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan not far from Uzbekistan, as well as tensions in China's relations with the United States, Europe, Japan, and India due to disagreements over technology, security, and territory.
This is in addition to Russia's attack on Ukraine. At the beginning of his one-on-one discussions with Xi, Putin denounced attempts by the United States and its allies to control world events.
Beijing is concerned about the effects of volatile oil prices and economic uncertainty brought on by the protracted fighting. Xi was more circumspect, saying that "in the face of changes in the world, times, and history, China is willing to work with Russia to reflect the responsibility of a major country, play a leading role, and inject stability into a troubled and interconnected world."
Per Republic World, the conference took place after a quick Ukrainian counteroffensive last week forced Russia to withdraw its troops from significant portions of northeastern Ukraine. After its forces were compelled to retreat from regions close to the city early in the war, Moscow's losses have been most severe since Ukraine reclaimed control of a number of Russian-occupied cities and villages.
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