The Russian president denounced an “unprecedented” context of “pressure” and “provocations from the West”.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday, December 30 that he wanted to strengthen military cooperation with China, during a meeting by videoconference with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, praising the resistance of Moscow and Beijing in the face of “pressures» Westerners.
“Against the backdrop of unprecedented pressure and provocations from the West, we defend our principled positions“Launched Vladimir Putin, before announcing that he wanted”strengthen cooperation between the armed forces of Russia and China“. According to him, “coordination between Moscow and Beijing on the international scene (…) serves the creation of a just world order based on international law“.
Xi Jinping’s visit to Russia “in the spring”
“Military and technical cooperation that contributes to the security of our countries and the maintenance of stability in key regions has a special place.in Russian-Chinese cooperation, he stressed. Then, the president pointed out that the two powers had “the intention to strengthen cooperation between the armed forces of Russia and China“.
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Faced with heavy Western sanctions because of its offensive against Ukraine, Russia has been seeking in recent months to strengthen its ties with Asia, in particular with China, which has nevertheless refrained from supporting the Russian attack against his neighbour. Vladimir Putin also announced on Friday that his counterpart would comein spring» 2023 in Russia for «a state visit“, which will be a first since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Moscow and Beijing present themselves as a geopolitical counterweight to the United States and its allies. They have conducted several joint military exercises in recent months, including naval maneuvers this week in the East China Sea. Russia is also trying to increase its gas deliveries to the Chinese economy, a major consumer of hydrocarbons, especially as the Europeans are determined to get rid of their Russian energy dependence.
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