Russia-China alliance ‘stable’ power in the world, Putin says before Xi’s speech | Story

Russian President Vladimir Putin will travel to China for the second meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in less than a year.

Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed Moscow’s relationship with Beijing as a “stable” global power ahead of talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

In a speech ahead of a two-day visit to China that begins Tuesday, Putin said Moscow and Beijing do not want to be at odds with each other but work together for “world peace and prosperity.”

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“It is in this spirit that Moscow and Beijing will join efforts to protect international law and the principles of the UN Charter as a whole,” said Mr. Putin, whose attack on Ukraine has been. widely criticized as a violation of the law of international law.

Russia and China, Putin added to support cooperation “within the UN, The Shanghai Cooperation Organization, BRICS, and other international platforms, are contributing significantly to solving global and regional problems.

Relations between Moscow and Beijing have grown to “unprecedented levels”, Putin said, with both sides now supporting each other on important issues such as “security of sovereignty and national unity”.

“Russia and China are boldly looking to the future, expanding political, economic, security cooperation, expanding cultural exchanges, and strengthening people-to-people contacts, and in particular, doing everything to strengthen bilateral cooperation and promote international development for the prosperity of both countries,” Putin said in a statement broadcast by state media.

Putin is due to arrive in China on Tuesday evening for talks with Xi on Wednesday.

The meeting, which is the second face-to-face meeting between the leaders in less than a year, comes as Russia and China appear to be increasingly united in opposing the United States’ status as a major power in global affairs.

Putin’s visit, which was supposed to mark the 25th anniversary of the Treaty of Good Friendship and Friendship, also comes just days after Xi and US President Donald Trump concluded a two-day summit in Beijing.

Trump’s meeting with Xi, following talks held in South Korea in October warm and playful voice but they have made few formal agreements on many issues of contention between the sides, including trade, AI, Taiwan and the US-Israel war on Iran.

Alexander Korolev, senior lecturer in international relations at UNSW in Australia, said Putin and Xi will use their meeting to strengthen their cooperation at a time when each of them is facing challenges.

“For Russia, this visit shows that it still maintains an advantage in its political and economic partners despite pressure from the West,” Korolev told Al Jazeera.

“For China, it reaffirms that relations with Russia are still a reliable pillar of its strategic position.”

“This visit also shows the political organization in Beijing and the fact that China’s foreign policy is independent and does not depend on the interests of others,” Korolev said.

Putin and Xi, who have met several times as heads of state, have deepened their economic and diplomatic ties in recent years as Moscow became increasingly isolated from the world over its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Two-way trade between Russia and China is expected to double from 2020 to 2024, reaching $245bn, according to the Mercator Institute for China Studies.

Russia’s exports to China mainly consist of oil, gas and coal, exports that provide Moscow with a means of economic recovery amid international sanctions.

China supplies Russia with many manufactured goods, including machinery, vehicles, electronics and textiles.