Russian President Vladimir Putin stated today that Moscow and Beijing “share the desire for equal cooperation in the world”, from the floor of the summit for the ten years of China’s New Silk Road Initiative.

“The Russian Federation and China, like most countries, share the desire for equal cooperation in the world,” Mr Putin said in the Chinese capital.

He also praised, according to Russian state news agency TASS, Beijing’s “success” in its massive and ambitious program, officially known as “One Belt, One Road”with the aim of improving trade links between Asia, Europe, Africa – and not only – by building ports, railways, airports, industrial parks, etc.

“Given the global dimensions of the initiative undertaken by the Chinese leader ten years ago, hardly anyone would have expected that it would bring results. (But) our Chinese friends made it. We are happy to see this success because it means a lot to many of us,” said the Russian president, who his first trip outside the former Soviet Union or to any major power after the Russian military invades Ukraine in February 2022.

According to China’s official Xinhua News Agency, following the speeches of Mr. Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and others at the summit, the planned one-on-one meeting between the presidents of Russia and China began a short time ago.