[News] Putin and China’s top diplomat pledge to strengthen ties ahead of Ukraine war anniversary

[S e u o n g]

Russian President Vladimir Putin said relations between his country and China are “reaching new milestones” as Beijing’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, wrapped up a visit to Moscow on Wednesday.

“Russian-Chinese relations are developing as we planned in previous years. Everything is moving forward and developing,” Putin told reporters as he sat beside Wang. “Cooperation in the international arena between the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China, as we have repeatedly said, is very important for stabilizing the international situation.”

Wang added that the two countries “often face crisis and chaos, but there are always opportunities in a crisis.”

“This requires us to identify changes more voluntarily and respond to the changes more actively to further strengthen our comprehensive strategic partnership,” Wang said. 

Wang’s high-profile visit, just days before the anniversary of the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, is widely believed to be a precursor to a meeting between Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. In December 2022, Putin and Xi held a virtual meeting in which the Russian leader described relations between the two nations as “the best in history,” saying they could “withstand all tests,” and invited Xi to visit Moscow in the spring of 2023.

On Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reported the two leaders would meet in “the coming months,” citing people familiar with the plan. Arrangements for the trip are at an “early stage” and the timing has not been finalized, the WSJ reported, adding that the trip could be in April or early May.

 

 

Wang arrived in Moscow just days after US officials went public with concerns about how China’s continuing partnership with Russia could have an impact on the war in Ukraine — and hours after Putin made a major speech on the conflict, in which he announced plans to suspend Russia’s involvement in its last remaining nuclear arms treaty with the US

 

Link: https://edition.cnn.com/2023/02/22/china/china-wang-yi-moscow-ukraine-intl-hnk/index.html