Putin praises China’s Xi for ‘balanced’ stand on Ukraine
SAMARKAND, Uzbekistan — Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday for his “balanced” approach to the Ukrainian crisis and blasted Washington’s “ugly” policies at a meeting that followed a major setback for Moscow on the battlefield.
Speaking at the start of talks with Xi in Uzbekistan, Putin said he was ready to discuss unspecified “concerns” by China about Ukraine.
“We highly appreciate the well-balanced position of our Chinese friends in connection with the Ukrainian crisis,” Putin said. “We understand your questions and your concerns in this regard, and we certainly will offer a detailed explanation of our stand on this issue during today’s meeting, even though we already talked about it earlier.”
The two met on the sidelines of the eight-nation Shanghai Cooperation Organization that includes India, Pakistan and four ex-Soviet nations in Central Asia. The security alliance was created as a counterweight to U.S. influence.
A Chinese government statement issued after the meeting didn’t mention Ukraine, but said Xi promised “strong support” to Russia’s “core interests.”
While the statement gave no details, Beijing uses “core interests” to describe issues such as national sovereignty and the ruling Communist Party’s claim to Taiwan, over which it is willing to go to war.
Speaking after the meeting, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the assessments of the international situation by Moscow and Beijing “fully coincide. We don’t have any differences.”
Xi’s government, which said it had a “no-limits” friendship with Moscow before the Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, has refused to criticize Russia’s military actions. Beijing and India are buying more Russian oil and gas, which helps Moscow offset Western sanctions imposed over the invasion.
Observers say Russia will likely grow increasingly reliant on China as a market for its oil and gas as the West moves to establish a price cap on Russian energy resources and potentially cut their imports altogether.
In trying to strengthen an alliance with China, Moscow has backed Beijing amid tensions with the U.S. that followed a recent visit to Taiwan by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
“We condemn the provocations of the U.S. and its satellites in the Taiwan Strait,” Putin told Xi.
Speaking at the start of his one-on-one talks with Xi, Putin blasted efforts by the United States and its allies to dominate global affairs.
Xi was more careful, saying that “in the face of changes in the world, times and history, China is willing to work with Russia to reflect the responsibility of a major country, play a leading role and inject stability into a troubled and interconnected world.”
Putin also met with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, whose country is on track to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Raisi said Moscow and Tehran were finalizing a major treaty that would bring their relations to a “strategic level.”