In a bid to get Beijing to make a public show of solidarity with Moscow amid the Ukraine war, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday he hoped China’s leader Xi Jinping would pay a State in Russia between March and June 2023.
In a video conference broadcast on state TV, the Kremlin chief said: “We are waiting for you, dear Mr President, dear friend, next spring [no Hemisfério Norte] on a state visit to Moscow.” Putin added that the trip would “demonstrate to the world the close ties between Russia and China.”
In a speech lasting about eight minutes, he also stated that Sino-Russian relations are growing in importance as a stabilization factor and that he intends to deepen military cooperation between the countries.
In the two-minute response, Xi said China was ready to increase strategic collaboration with Russia in what he called a “difficult” context in the world at large.
The relationship between Russia and China, which both sides celebrated as a “boundless” friendship earlier this year, has taken on greater significance since Moscow invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.
While Western countries have imposed unprecedented sanctions against Russia, China has refused to condemn the Kremlin’s military actions. Nor did he make public demonstrations of support, delivering a speech that highlights the need for peace.
Russian energy exports to China have grown strongly since the start of the conflict, and today Moscow is Beijing’s biggest supplier of oil. But even the Chinese have been careful not to provide material support that would trigger Western sanctions on China. At a September summit in Uzbekistan, Putin acknowledged his Chinese counterpart’s concerns about the situation in Ukraine.
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