BEIJING – Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Wednesday as regional tensions escalated and he called for an immediate end to hostilities in West Asia, saying the situation had reached a “critical juncture”.
Welcoming Putin at the Great Hall of the People, Xi Jinping said another fight in the Gulf and across West Asia must be avoided and stressed that negotiations should continue.
Xi Jinping said that an early end to the conflict would help alleviate disruptions to energy supply, industrial and international trade orders.
The talks between Xi Jinping and Putin come days after U.S. President Donald Trump visited China on May 14-15 and held extensive discussions with Chinese leaders on the Israel-Israel conflict, the Strait of Hormuz and bilateral trade frictions.
The meeting is closely watched because China and Russia are both important strategic partners of Iran, with close economic and military ties to Tehran, and could influence Iran’s hardline stance on closing the Strait of Hormuz, which has triggered a major global energy crisis.
Xi Jinping described the international situation as “volatile and turbulent” and explicitly criticized Trump’s policies, saying “unilateralism and hegemonism are resurgent”.
But peace, development and cooperation are still the people’s aspirations and the trend of the times.
Xi Jinping called on China and Russia to strengthen coordination and the two countries should work together to promote a “more fair and reasonable” global governance system.
As permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and important world powers, China and Russia should drive the development and revitalization of their respective countries through higher-quality comprehensive strategic coordination from a strategic and long-term perspective, and promote a more just and reasonable global governance system.
According to the Kremlin, some 40 agreements are expected to be signed during Putin’s visit.
Putin, who is visiting China for the 25th time, called Xi Jinping his “dear friend” and emphasized the close coordination and cooperation between the two countries’ strategic partners.
The Russian news agency TASS quoted Putin as saying in his opening speech: “Dear Mr. President, Mr. Xi Jinping, dear friend! It is appropriate to use a Chinese proverb: As far as we know, the Chinese say ‘One day is like three autumns’.”
“We’re really excited to see you and we’re constantly synchronizing the watches in person or through our assistants,” he said.
The leaders of the two countries also agreed to further extend the China-Russia Good-Neighborly Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation signed 25 years ago.
Xi Jinping said that the treaty laid an institutional foundation for long-term friendship and comprehensive strategic coordination between the two countries, and that relations between the two countries have since achieved “leap-forward development.”
Xi Jinping said that China supports the further extension of the treaty and that China will work with Moscow to abide by the spirit of the agreement and firmly promote China-Russia “back-to-back strategic coordination.”
Before the talks, Putin received a grand welcome from Xi Jinping.
The Russian leader arrived in Beijing on Tuesday night and was received by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
In a video speech released before the visit, Putin said that Russia-China relations have reached “unprecedented levels” and pointed out that bilateral trade volume has exceeded 200 billion US dollars, and transactions are increasingly conducted in rubles and renminbi.
He also said that the Russia-China strategic partnership plays an “important stabilizing role” globally, and stressed that the two countries will continue to coordinate through multilateral forums such as the United Nations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and BRICS.
Putin’s visit comes as tensions rise in West Asia after Iran blocked the Strait of Hormuz and the United States seized Iranian ports.
China imports nearly 90% of Iranian oil despite U.S. sanctions, and both Moscow and Beijing maintain close strategic ties with Tehran.
This article was generated from automated news agency feeds without modifications to the text.
