China rolls out red carpet for close friend Putin

BEIJING: Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged to deepen their strategic partnership in Beijing on Thursday in a stark show of their growing alignment as Russian troops advance in Ukraine.

Putin, whose delegation includes top defense and security officials, was welcomed by Xi to Beijing’s Great Hall of the People earlier with full military pageantry, heralding the start of his for the start of his two-day state visit.

Xi hailed the two countries’ deepening ties, which were formalized in a joint statement inked by the leaders in a ceremony Thursday afternoon, saying they would “inject strong momentum” in the development of their relations.

The visit, Putin’s symbolic first overseas foray since entering a new term as Russia’s president last week, is the latest sign of the deepening relations as the two bind their countries closer in the face of heavy frictions with the West.

In meetings with Putin, Xi proclaimed that China-Russian relations have “stood the test of a changing international landscape” and made “positive contributions to maintaining global strategic stability,” according to a readout from China’s Foreign Ministry.

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Putin, whose economy has become increasingly reliant on China since his February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, hailed the countries’ “practical cooperation” in meetings with Xi, noting their record bilateral trade last year, while and stressing the importance of energy, industrial, and agriculture cooperation, according to Russian state media Tass.

The meeting in Beijing is Putin and Xi’s fourth time speaking face-to-face since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and comes amid mounting international concern about the direction of the war amid delays in aid to Ukraine and as Russia’s economy and defense complex appears unbowed by Western sanctions.

Putin says he and Xi will discuss the war in Ukraine in informal talks later Thursday evening, which are expected to include Russian’s newly appointed Defense Minister Andrey Belousov and his predecessor Sergei Shoigu, now secretary of Russia’s Security Council.

Putin’s red-carpet welcome to Beijing comes a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced via his office that he would halt all upcoming international visits, as his troops defend against a surprise Russian offensive in his country’s northeastern Kharkiv region.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Kyiv earlier this week to reaffirm the Biden administration’s support for Ukraine after months of Congressional delay in approving American military aid to the embattled country. Blinken pledged $2 billion in foreign military financing and said much-needed ammunition and weapons are being rushed to the front lines.

Xi welcomes Putin under pressure from both the US and Europe to ensure soaring exports from China to Russia since the start of the war aren’t propping up the Kremlin’s war effort.

White House officials in recent weeks have confronted Beijing on what they believe is substantial support – in the form of goods like machine tools, drone and turbojet engines and microelectronics – from China for Russia’s defense industrial base. Beijing has slammed the US as making “groundless accusations” over “normal trade and economic exchanges” between China and Russia.