Putin Went To China To Meet With Xi Jinping Just Days After Trump And Signed Dozens Of Agreements
Both leaders said their bilateral ties are at an "unprecedented high."
China's president Xi Jinping has hosted Russia's president Vladimir Putin in Beijing, China, where the two leaders signed more than 40 cooperation deals and took aim at US president Donald Trump, warning against a return to the world's "law of the jungle”.
Putin arrived in Beijing days after Trump also visited China for his own summit with Xi.
Xi and Putin signed about 40 deals spanning trade, technology, intellectual property, energy, media, automobiles and civilian nuclear cooperation, as well as an agreement to build a new cross-border railway, according to South China Morning Post.
Both leaders said their bilateral ties are at an "unprecedented high."
However, the two leaders failed to reach an agreement on a contract for a new pipeline that would enable Moscow to transport more than double the amount of natural gas it sells to China.
The Kremlin, which has long been seeking the agreement, said the two sides had reached a "basic understanding" on the route, but that there was no clear timeline for construction.
Putin told Xi that "amid the crisis in the Middle East, Russia continues to maintain its role as a reliable supplier of resources, while China remains a responsible consumer of these resources."
In a joint statement, Xi and Putin took aim at Trump's plans for a US$175 billion "Golden Dome" defense system, a proposed missile shield that would include a new missile field in the American Midwest, calling it an "obvious threat to strategic stability."
They also criticized the expiry of the last US-Russia arms control treaty, which fell in February when Trump did not respond to Moscow's proposal to extend it, according to Al Jazeera.
Xi said the world was "increasingly chaotic" and warned of "unilateral hegemonic currents", which is Beijing's standard phrase for US foreign policy.
The two leaders said in their statement that the world faces the risk of regressing to the law of the jungle and condemned attempts at regime change and interference in domestic affairs.
China and Russia also jointly condemned the US-Israel war on Iran and the assassination of sovereign leaders, referring to the US and Israel assassination of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Xi openly called for an end to the US-Israel war on Iran, saying a comprehensive ceasefire was of "utmost urgency" and citing the impact of the conflict on global trade routes, energy markets and supply chains.
However, both leaders did not mention Russia’s ongoing invasion and war in Ukraine.
China has repeatedly presented itself as neutral in the conflict, but Western governments argue Beijing has effectively provided Moscow with an economic lifeline by maintaining strong trade ties.
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