EFor the first time since the beginning of the Ukraine war, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping have met face-to-face. Between the lines, it was indicated that Xi did not approve of Putin’s war of aggression against Ukraine and had given him this to understand in advance.
“We value the balanced position of our Chinese friends” on the “Ukrainian crisis,” Putin said at the meeting in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on Thursday. “We understand your questions and your concerns about it.” For his part, Xi said that China is ready “to show an example of a responsible world power with the Russian colleagues” – which cannot be interpreted as special support for Moscow.
Putin and Xi met on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit. Putin condemned the political efforts to create a “monopolar world”. These efforts have taken “an absolutely ugly form” and are “completely unacceptable,” he said. Xi said China wants to bring stability to a “chaotic world”.
China has adopted Russia’s reasoning
Since the beginning of its war of aggression against Ukraine on February 24 and the associated Western sanctions, Russia has been trying to expand its relations with Asian countries, especially China. Beijing has never openly condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine, instead criticizing Western sanctions against Moscow and arms sales to Kyiv.
This photo released by Russia’s state-run Sputnik news agency via AP shows Vladimir Putin (left) and Xi Jinping (right) talking during their meeting on the sidelines of the SOC summit.
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Image: dpa
Both presidents last met shortly before the start of the war for the opening of the Winter Olympics in Beijing in early February and vowed their “boundless” friendship. The meeting in Samarkand is Xi’s first trip abroad in around three years.
Before his meeting with Xi, the Russian President sought to close ranks with Iran in Samarkand on Thursday. Putin announced that he would do “everything” to integrate Iran as a permanent member of the SCO. His Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi emphasized that cooperation between the two US-sanctioned countries will make them “stronger”.
Iran wants to neutralize American sanctions
“On the bilateral level, cooperation is developing positively,” said Putin. Work on an important new treaty between Russia and Iran on strategic relations is almost complete. Moscow will also send a business delegation to Tehran next week.
“Americans think whatever country they sanction they will stop — but that assumption is wrong,” Raisi said. The Iranian news agency Tasnim quoted Raisi as saying that cooperation with Russia should neutralize most of the American sanctions.
Both countries are sanctioned by the West, Russia because of the war of aggression against Ukraine, Iran because of its nuclear program. Several SCO members have so far not wanted to have a country subject to international sanctions in their ranks – a situation that now also applies to Russia.
Founded in 2001 as a political and economic counterweight to Western institutions, the SCO includes China, Russia, the four Central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, as well as India and Pakistan. Iran has so far had observer status; In 2008, the country applied for permanent membership.
