Russia and China have jointly called for Nato to halt its expansion amid international tensions over a possible invasion of Ukraine.
Moscow also said it fully supported Beijing’s stance on Taiwan and opposed Taiwanese independence in any form.
The joint statement, including harsh criticism of the United States, was issued during Russian president Vladimir Putin’s visit to China for the opening of the Winter Olympics.
The Kremlin said Mr Putin and Chinese president Xi Jinping held warm and substantive talks in Beijing and described the relationship as an advanced partnership with a special character.
Mr Putin also announced a major gas deal with China, a further sign of the deepening of the relationship between the two neighbours at a time of difficult relations with the West.
“The Russian side reaffirms its support for the One-China principle, confirms that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China, and opposes any forms of independence of Taiwan,” the joint statement said.
Military expansion
The two countries expressed concern about “the advancement of US plans to develop global missile defence and deploy its elements in various regions of the world, combined with capacity building of high-precision non-nuclear weapons for disarming strikes and other strategic objectives”.
They said they opposed further enlargement of US-led Nato and called on the alliance to abandon its “ideologised Cold War approaches”.
A halt to Nato’s eastwards addition of new member states is a key demand of the Kremlin in its standoff with the West over Ukraine. The United States has rejected some of Moscow’s key proposals but said it is willing to discuss other topics such as arms control.
China supports Russia’s proposals to create legally binding security guarantees in Europe, the joint statement said.
The Kremlin said the presidents also discussed the need to broaden trade in national currencies because of unpredictability surrounding the use of the dollar.
US president Joe Biden has said Russian companies could be cut off from the ability to trade in dollars as part of sanctions if Russia invades Ukraine.
Alignment
The meeting between Mr Xi and Mr Putin marked was their first in-person encounter since 2019 and come as China and Russia increasingly align their foreign policies bilaterally and in world bodies such as the United Nations, in opposition to the United States-led bloc.
UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres, World Health Organisation director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and director general of the World Intellectual Property Organisation Daren Tang were among other dignitaries who arrived in Beijing on Thursday for the openoing of the winter games.
The Russian president has criticised “attempts by some countries to politicise sports to the benefit of their ambitions”, an apparent reference to a US-led diplomatic boycott, which does not affect the participation of athletes in the games. – Reuters