Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping To Talk Before the Year Ends After China Signals ‘Rock-Solid’ Ties with Russia

On Monday, the Russian state news agency TASS reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping will speak before the end of the year, without elaborating on the timing or format.

According to a statement attributed to Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for the Kremlin, the two parties will release further information at the appropriate time.

Russia-China Ties

When the Russian leader visited Beijing in February, three weeks before he invaded Ukraine, he and Xi proclaimed a "no limits" partnership between the two countries.

With Western nations condemning the war and slamming Russia's economy with sanctions, Putin's partnership with China has assumed greater significance. In September, he acknowledged publicly that Beijing had expressed questions and concern regarding Ukraine.

Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, who is currently the vice chairman of Putin's Security Council, met Xi in Beijing last week. According to Xinhua, Xi told Medvedev that China hopes all parties in the Ukraine crisis will exercise restraint and resolve security concerns through political means, NDTV reported.

Russia and China have a long and storied history of diplomatic and economic ties, and their partnership has grown increasingly close in recent years. The two nations share a border and have collaborated on trade, energy, and defense issues.

In addition, they have coordinated their stances on international issues, including their participation in the United Nations Security Council. Russia and China have sought to strengthen their economic ties in recent years through initiatives such as the construction of a natural gas pipeline from Russia to China and an increase in bilateral trade.

In addition to collaborating on military exercises and defense cooperation, they have supported one another on issues including territorial disputes in the South China Sea, according to Republic World. According to statements made on Sunday by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, China wants to "deepen" its cooperation with Russia while maintaining its official neutrality on the war in Ukraine.

China is frustrated by what it perceives to be unfair Western trade practices, which are driven by US policy, and Yi's remarks may be directed more at Washington, D.C. than at Moscow.

The strengthening of ties with Russia and Putin, including last week's joint naval exercises in the East China Sea, could be interpreted as a form of political pushback. First, the Biden administration came out in support of Chinese protesters opposed to the COVID policy.

The new omnibus spending bill included as much as $10 billion for Taiwan's security assistance. In the same speech in which Yi accused the United States of unilateral bullying, he admitted that "China and the United States cannot decouple or sever supply chains.

Wang stated that China and Russia would "increase strategic mutual trust and cooperation that is mutually beneficial." Last week, warships from both nations conducted naval exercises in the East China Sea, as per Axios.

China Accuses US of Bullying

Even though China and Russia have found common ground in the face of Western pressure, China's economic future remains dependent on American and European markets and technology. Leader Xi Jinping is urging Chinese industry to be more self-sufficient, but Wang acknowledged that Chinese and American supply chains cannot be decoupled or severed".

He stated that China would work to restore relations with the United States, explaining that they had deteriorated because the United States has stubbornly continued to view China as its primary competitor and has engaged in the blatant blockade, suppression, and provocation against China.

Late last week, Wang and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke on the phone. According to the State Department, Blinken discussed the need to responsibly manage the US-China relationship and raised concerns about Russia's war against Ukraine and the threats it poses to global security and economic stability.

According to a statement from the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Wang accused the United States of "unilateral bullying" and stated that China would continue to play a constructive role in resolving the Ukraine crisis in its way, as per Washington Post.