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China Xi and Putin talk about geopolitics in video call


Russian President Vladimir Putin sits in his office at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence during a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (on a video screen) via video call.

Mikhail Metzel | TASS | beautiful pictures

BEIJING – President of China Xi Jinping and the President of Russia Vladimir Putin held its second dedicated video call of the year on Wednesday, amid growing international concerns about Tensions on the Russian-Ukrainian border.

According to Reuters, Putin has won support from Xi for his efforts to secure binding security guarantees for Russia from the West, a Kremlin official said.

Russia wants the United States and NATO to ensure that the military alliance does not expand further east or deploy weapons systems in Ukraine and other countries on its borders with Russia.

Putin also called Mr. Xi a “close friend” and said that relations between the two countries have reached “unprecedented highs” According to reports opening the call from Russia’s state news agency TASS.

The two leaders’ video call lasted just over an hour, from 4:07 p.m. to 5:21 p.m. Beijing time, according to Chinese state media. Some more details about the call are available late Wednesday Beijing time.

Xi and Putin met for the last time at the end of june, also via video link. At the beginning of the year, the two leaders met by video as part of a ceremony to kick off the nuclear power reactor project. Putin and Xi also spoke by phone in August after the Taliban took power in Afghanistan following the withdrawal of US troops.

Before the virtual meeting, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the two leaders would discuss tensions in Europe and described the two countries as “allies”. according to Reuters.

“We are aware of very, very aggressive rhetoric from NATO and the United States, and this requires discussion between us and China,” the spokesman said, according to the report. by Reuters.

The members of NATO – a powerful military alliance – announced in June that it would address threats from China and Russia.

In a virtual meeting with the President of the United States Joe Biden last week, Putin said Washington should not let Ukraine join NATO in return for assurances that Russian troops would not launch an attack.

Biden said Washington would not accept such a request.

An attack on one member of NATO is considered an attack on all member states. Ukraine has wanted to join the alliance since 2002, but Russia objected on the grounds that such a move would be a direct threat to its borders.

It is not clear what Beijing’s position is towards Ukraine. Xi spoke by phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in July, according to Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China.

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The G-7 leaders on Sunday issued a statement condemns “Russia’s military construction and aggressive rhetoric towards Ukraine.” The United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom are part of the bloc of major economies.

China is not part of the G-7. The country shares a long border with Russia and much of its bilateral relationship is focused on trade, especially energy. This year, China buys a large amount of coal and other fuels from its northern neighbor to help alleviate coal shortages.

On Wednesday, Xi said he looked forward to meeting Putin at the Olympics in Beijing and starting a new chapter in post-Covid China-Russia relations, according to Chinese state media.

The Olympics will begin in early February, and Biden has announced a diplomatic boycott, although athletes can still attend.

– by CNBC Abigail Ng contributed to this report.

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