Xi Jinping has reaffirmed his partnership “without limits” with Vladimir Putin and expressed support for talks between Russia and the United States about ending the war in Ukraine. Beijing said Mr Putin initiated the call between the two leaders, which came on the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Donald Trump has signalled Washington’s willingness to make major concessions in an effort to end the war quickly and to normalise relations with Moscow. But Mr Xi and Mr Putin pledged that their partnership would not be affected by better relations between the US and Russia.
“Our bilateral relationship has a strong internal driving force and unique strategic value. It is neither targeted at any third party nor affected by any third party. Both countries have long-term development strategies and foreign policies,” Mr Xi told Mr Putin, according to the official Chinese account of the call.
“No matter how the international landscape changes, our relationship shall move forward at its own pace, contribute to our countries’ respective development and revitalisation, and inject stability and positivity into international relations.”
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Our bilateral relationship . . . is neither targeted at any third party nor affected by any third party
The talks between the US and Russia have fuelled speculation that Mr Trump is attempting to detach Moscow from Beijing, which has offered economic and diplomatic support during the Ukraine conflict. In an interview with Tucker Carlson last October, Mr Trump said the US should never have allowed Russia and China to unite and that he was “going to have to un-unite them”.
But Mr Putin reassured Mr Xi that his talks with Mr Trump would not undermine Moscow’s partnership with Beijing, according to the Chinese readout of the call.
“President Putin said that Russia attaches great importance to its relations with China,” it said.
“Developing relations with China is a strategic choice made by Russia with a view to the long term; it is not an act of expediency, not affected by any temporary incidents, and not subject to interference by external factors. Under the current situation, close communication between Russia and China is in keeping with the two countries’ comprehensive strategic partnership of co-ordination for the new era, and will send a positive message that Russia and China play a stabilising role in international affairs.”
Mr Putin’s office issued a shorter summary of the call, suggesting that the two leaders planned to meet a number of times in the coming months. It said Mr Putin updated Mr Xi about the recent talks between Russia and the US about their bilateral relationship and the war in Ukraine.
“The President of China expressed his support for the dialogue initiated between Russia and the United States, as well as China’s readiness to help find ways to settle the Ukrainian conflict peacefully,” the readout said.
