On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed progress in relations with China, saying they are reaching “a new level” and trade between the two countries should reach $200 billion next year. Putin’s statements came at the start of a meeting with China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, who concluded a tour of several European countries in Moscow at a time when Western allies fear China is considering supplying weapons to the Russians. Beijing denies this and promises to reveal a peace plan for Ukraine first.
“Chinese partners have informed us of their views on the root causes of the Ukrainian crisis and on approaches to a political solution.”, said the Russian Foreign Ministry. “There was no plan [de paz] separately,” he added in a statement, claiming there has been “contortion” among Western politicians and media on the matter.
Over the weekend, on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, Wang Yi met with the head of Ukrainian diplomacy, Dmitro Kuleba, and presented, according to Kiev, “key elements of the peace plan” that Beijing planned to present later this week. . China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman said in his daily press conference that China will “release a position paper on seeking a political solution to the crisis in Ukraine”. Kiev was not consulted in drawing up such a plan, a Ukrainian official told AFP.
China has refused to condemn the Russian invasion, which celebrates its first anniversary tomorrow, and has sought to strengthen ties with Russia. Putin said he was looking forward to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Moscowsomething that The Wall Street Journal thinks it could happen as early as April or May. For the Russian president, “cooperation in the international arena between Russia and China” is “very important to stabilize the international situation”.
In his opening remarks, Wang Yi spoke of the “very complex and unstable international situation” and said that “Sino-Russian relations have withstood the pressure of the international community and are developing very steadily”, and are not influenced “by third parties “. The Chinese official also recalled that “while the crisis is being felt all the time, crises bring opportunities,” and defended the need to “redouble our efforts to respond to the crisis and opportunities and deepen our cooperation.”
On Sunday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the Chinese are “considering providing deadly support” to Russia, warning of the consequences of such action. This support would include not only sending weapons, but also ammunition – something both sides will miss. Wagner Group mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin repeated a call to Moscow for the Russian army to share ammunition with its fighters in Ukraine. China denied thinking about sending weapons to Russia and reiterated its commitment to dialogue.
“A big mistake”
While the Russians are strengthening ties with the Chinese, US President Joe Biden ended his visit to Poland this Wednesday with a meeting with the countries of Eastern Europe that are part of NATO – the so-called Bucharest 9 group. commitment” to Article 5 of the Atlantic Alliance, which states that an attack on one country is an attack on all countries.
Before the meeting, Biden was also asked about Russia’s decision to suspend the nuclear disarmament treaty with the US. The US president, who made a surprise visit to Kiev on Monday, called Putin a “big mistake”.
Russian leader at patriotic event
Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium was packed on Wednesday for the “Glory to the Defenders of the Fatherland” concert in honor of Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine. One of the stars on stage was Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was welcomed with chants of “Russia, Russia”.
In a short speech, he reiterated that the country’s army is fighting for “historic” land in Ukraine. Putin praised those who “fight heroically and courageously” and said the country is “proud” of them. “Today, in defending our interests, our people, our culture, language and territory, everything, our whole people is the defender of the fatherland,” he said.
Despite negative temperatures (-15 degrees), the audience was only allowed to leave the stadium, with a capacity of about 80,000 people in the stands, after Putin had spoken. Entries for the show were checked and it was not possible to purchase tickets, with some attendees saying they would have been required to participate.
Source: DN
