one can read Xi's mind.. "this moment Putin is a useful tool & screw the pomp and circumstance, Russian resources can also be had on the cheap ".
Chinese President Xi Jinping to meet with Russia’s Vladimir Putin as ‘no limits’ partners mark 75 years of ties
- •Stronger China ties likely to be high on President Vladimir Putin’s agenda in Beijing as the West shuts out Russia
- •China-Russia ‘no limits’ strategic partnership has come under intense scrutiny by the US and its allies following invasion of Ukraine
Laura Zhou
Published: 3:15pm, 14 May 2024
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping raise a toast at the Kremlin in March last year. Photo: AP
Chinese President Xi Jinping is set to host Vladimir Putin when the Russian leader arrives in Beijing on Thursday, Putin’s first overseas trip since starting his fifth term in office earlier this month.
It is also Putin’s second visit to China since October and the latest display of the strong ties between the neighbours.
“Russian President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin will pay a state visit to China on May 16-17 at the invitation of President Xi Jinping,” China’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday afternoon.
While China has not openly supported Putin’s invasion of Ukraine more than two years ago, its “no limits” strategic partnership with Russia has come under intense scrutiny from the United States and its allies, who have imposed sanctions on Moscow and called repeatedly for Beijing to use its leverage to bring the war to an end.
How to further strengthen Russia’s strategic partnership with China, particularly economic cooperation in the face of isolation by the West, would be high on Putin’s agenda as the two countries mark 75 years of diplomatic ties.
Putin’s visit to Beijing in October was for a summit of the Belt and Road Initiative, the massive China-led infrastructure project that aims to connect Asia with Africa and Europe by land and sea and is widely seen as Xi’s pet project.
His latest visit comes close on the heels of Xi’s three-nation European tour. Meeting in Paris with French President Emmanuel Macron and EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, Xi pledged that China would not sell arms to Russia and would control the flow of dual-use goods to its military, both raised as points of concern by the West.
According to a report on bilateral investment by a Chinese think tank, about 80 per cent of payment settlements between China and Russia were suspended as of March because of sanctions from the West.
This has “severely impacted normal trade and commercial relations” and brings home the urgent need to “build new payment-and-settlement channels as soon as possible, and resolve the threat of secondary sanctions on financial institutions”, the report from the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Beijing’s Renmin University said.
Less than three weeks before his invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Putin was in Beijing as one of the highest-profile guests at the Winter Olympic Games.
During talks with Xi ahead of the opening ceremony, the two sides declared a “no-limits” partnership.
Close interaction between the top leaders has “ensured the smooth and stable development of China-Russia ties”, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Monday.
Officials in both Beijing and Moscow have often described the bilateral partnership as greater than a traditional alliance.
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