‘A Dignified Relationship’: Putin Meets Xi Jinping, Hails Russia-China Relations

Russian president Vladimir Putin hailed the relationship between China and Russia as he met with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping ahead of the opening ceremony of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

At the meeting, Putin and Xi also discussed extending their economic partnership as well. According to a report by news agency AFP, Moscow prepared a new contract for the supply of 10 billion cubic metres of natural gas to China from Russia’s far easternmost regions.

“(The Moscow-Beijing relations) are of an unprecedented nature and an example of a dignified relationship. (Our ties) are developing progressively along the path of friendship and strategic partnership,” Putin said in a televised address after his meeting with Xi. The two countries are likely to deepen their ties as the US and its allies aim to counter the dual threat of a Russian invasion as well as the Chinese aggression in South China Sea and southeast Asia.

Both countries have denounced the diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics Games citing the human rights abuses in Xinjiang. China also irked India when it chose Qi Fabao, a PLA soldier who was posted in Galwan when Chinese PLA encroached Indian territory, as an Olympic torchbearer. The move earned widespread criticism as lawmakers from other nations decried the move terming it ‘provocative’.

Putin earlier speaking to Chinese news agency Global Times said that he and Xi will discuss bilateral relations as well as international issues. He also indicated that they will discuss issues related to Ukraine as well. “Our countries play an important stabilising role in today’s challenging international environment, promoting greater democracy in the system of international relations to make it more equitable and inclusive,” Putin told the Global Times.

Putin joins handful of other leaders, the UN general secretary and the WHO chief who will attend the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics, which many experts believe is a display by the Chinese Communist Party of China’s rise.

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