In his brief opening remarks, Xi Jinping called Vladimir Putin his “old friend.”
Astana:
Russian President Vladimir Putin told Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Wednesday that relations between Beijing and Moscow are stronger than ever.
The pair met on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in the Kazakh capital Astana – a regional political and economic bloc that the two leaders see as a counterweight to US “hegemony” in international affairs.
Putin praised the group for “strengthening its role as one of the main pillars of a fair multipolar world order” in opening comments from a meeting with Xi, which were published on Russian state TV.
Alongside Russia and China, four Central Asian states, India, Iran and Pakistan, are members of the SOC.
Beijing has become Moscow’s main political and economic partner since it invaded Ukraine in February 2022, triggering a series of Western sanctions.
“Russian-Chinese relations, our comprehensive partnership and our strategic cooperation, are experiencing their best period in history,” Putin said.
In his brief opening remarks, Xi called Putin his “old friend” and said Sino-Russian relations were at a “high level.”
“In the face of the turbulent international situation and external environment, the two sides must continue to uphold the original aspiration of friendship for generations to come,” Xi said.
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