Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday thanked Chinese leader Xi Jinping for his “balanced” approach to the Ukraine crisis and criticized Washington’s “ugly” policy at a meeting that followed Moscow’s first setback on the battlefield. Speaking at the start of talks with Xi in Uzbekistan, Putin also expressed China’s unspecified “concerns” about Ukraine.
“We very much appreciate the balanced position of our Chinese friends in the context of the Ukraine crisis,” Putin said, speaking to Xi at a long table.
“We received your questions and considerations about it, and we will indeed be offering a detailed explanation of our position on this factor at today’s meeting, we have already discussed it before,” he added.
Putin’s occasional mention of China’s concerns comes as Beijing worries about the effect of oil price volatility and economic uncertainty due to the nearly seven-month war in Ukraine.
The two men met on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, composed of 8 countries, plus India, Pakistan and 4 ex-Soviet countries in Central Asia. The security alliance created to counter American influence.
A Chinese document issued after the assembly made no particular mention of Ukraine, but said Xi had promised “strong support” for Russia’s “core interests. “While providing no details, Beijing uses “core interests” to describe issues such as national sovereignty and the ruling Communist Party’s claim to Taiwan, for which it is in a position to go to war.
Speaking after the meeting, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said foreign tests from Moscow and Beijing “completely coincide. We have no difference. “
He added that the two countries “will continue to coordinate their actions, at the next UN General Assembly. “
Lavrov called the talks “excellent” and said they were “very pragmatic and concrete, and involved a discussion about the responsibilities of ministries and agencies. “
The Biden leadership has described the Putin-Xi talks as a rapprochement that worries Washington.
“We have made transparent our considerations about the intensity of China’s alignment and ties with Russia,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, adding that Thursday’s assembly “is an example of that alignment,” but declined to comment further.
Xi’s government, which said it had an “unlimited” friendship with Moscow before the invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, refused to criticize the Russian military’s actions. Beijing and India are buying more Russian oil and gas, helping Moscow counter sanctions imposed by the West. the invasion.
Observers say Russia is likely to increasingly rely on China as a market for its oil and fuel as the West works to set a value cap for Russia’s energy resources and potentially reduce its imports.
In seeking an alliance with China, Moscow has heavily subsidized Beijing amid tensions with the United States that followed on a recent scale in Taiwan through U. S. House speaker Nancy Pelosi.
“We condemn the provocations of the United States and its satellites in the Taiwan Strait,” Putin Xi said.
Along with the Russian attack on Ukraine, the summit takes a position against the context of hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan not coming from Uzbekistan, as well as tensions in China’s relations with Washington, Europe, Japan and India over technological, security and territorial disputes. . .
Speaking at the beginning of his personal talks with Xi, Putin criticized efforts by the United States and its allies to dominate global affairs.
“Attempts to create a unipolar world have recently taken a safe form. They are certainly unacceptable to the vast majority of countries in the world,” he said in his opening remarks.
“The Moscow-Beijing tandem plays a key role in ensuring global and regional stability,” Putin said. “Together we protect the formation of a just, democratic and multipolar global international law and the central role of the United Nations, and not on rules invented by some who seek to impose them on others without explaining what they are. “
Xi is more cautious, saying that “in the face of adjustments in the world, times and history, China is willing to work with Russia to reflect the duty of a wonderful country, play a leadership role and instill stability in a troubled and interconnected world. “”. “
The assembly came after Russia was forced to withdraw its forces from vast areas of northeastern Ukraine last week amid an immediate Ukrainian counteroffensive. Ukraine’s recovery of several Russian-occupied cities and towns represented the biggest setback for Moscow since its forces had to withdraw from spaces near the capital at the start of the war.
The SCO summit in the ancient city of Samarkand is part of Xi’s first abroad since the coronavirus pandemic began two and a half years ago, underscoring Beijing’s willingness to assert itself as a regional power.
Putin also met with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, whose country is on track to enroll in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Raisi said Moscow and Tehran were finalizing a primary treaty that would take their relations to a “strategic level. “
He and Putin criticized the United States at the beginning of their meeting. Raisi accused the United States of violating its obligations under Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers. and get it back whatever they want. “
Putin is also scheduled to hold one-on-one talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. Turkey and Azerbaijan have the title of “dialogue partners” with the SCO.
Earlier this week, Azerbaijan and Armenia carried out cross-border bombings that killed 176 infantrymen on both sides, the most serious hostilities in just two years between decades-long adversaries. The fighting has put Moscow, which has tried to close ties with either country, in a precarious position.
Putin’s meeting with Erdogan will be closely watched for his statements on Ukraine and a July deal negotiated through Turkey and the UN to raid exports of grain and other agricultural products blocked in Ukrainian Black Sea ports after the invasion.