By The opinion
May 16, 2024, 01:27 AM EDT
The president of China, Xi Jinping, received this Thursday his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, on a two-day visit to that country that has become a key economic support for Moscow in the midst of the conflict in Ukraine.
Putin was received with a welcome ceremony in which together they listened to hymns and gun salutes.
After, Putin and Xi review the guard of honor before beginning their closed-door meetingaccording to images broadcast live by the state channel CGTN.
During the meeting, Chinese President Xi Jinping He assured that China and Russia will “preserve justice in the world,” reported the Asian country’s Foreign Ministry.
“Despite some ups and downs, our relations have been strengthening and have withstood the test of the changing international landscape. We are a good example for other powers in terms of respect and candor. The development of our ties is conducive to peace, stability and prosperity in the region and the world,” Xi said in the closed-door meeting they held this Thursday.
“We will continue to consolidate our friendship and defend justice in the world,” Xi said before Putin, who arrived after 4:00 local time (20:00 GMT on Wednesday) at the airport in the capital of the Asian giant on his first visit abroad after his re-election for a fifth term.
The Chinese leader recalled that he has met with Putin “more than forty times” and noted that both maintain “close communication.” and that they provide “strategic guidance” that has “ensured the solid, stable and fluid development of our ties.”
“The relationship between China and Russia today is hard-won, and both sides should value and foster it,” he noted.
Likewise, Xi asserted that China is willing to work with Russia “to remain a good neighbor, a good friend and a good partner who trust each other.”
Putin’s visit begins a day after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced in kyiv an additional $2 billion to help Ukraine to acquire weapons from the United States and other countries and increase the production capacity of its own military industry.
This is Putin’s second visit in less than a year, after the trip he made in October 2023 on the occasion of the Third New Silk Roads Forum, which some analysts consider a new indication of the growing alignment between both countries to continue their businesses and promote a new “multipolar” order.
For the Chinese president, the visit will be an opportunity to show that his affinity with Putin has not compromised his ability to maintain relations with the West, especially after Washington asked Beijing not to supply components that could be used in war.
The Asian giant, which has not condemned the invasion, has denied having military ties with Russia, but has requested the holding of a conference “recognized by all parties” to resume dialogue.
In February 2022, shortly before the start of the war in Ukraine, Xi and Putin proclaimed in Beijing a “friendship without limits.”
Since then, they have defended that their relationship “does not threaten any country” and that it “advances the multipolarization of the world” in opposition to American “hegemonism.”
*With information from EFE.
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