Putin greets Beijing diplomat as China and Russia vow ‘other countries will not influence relations’

A smiling Vladimir Putin met China’s top diplomat in Moscow today and both vowed that “other countries will not influence our relations” in a mockery of the United States.

The Russian despot smiled as he shook hands with Wang Yi inside the Kremlin today during their impromptu meeting, which was only confirmed this morning.

Putin said ties between Russia and Beijing are important to “stabilize the international situation” amid his ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

The Russian president told Wang that he hoped Chinese President Xi Jinping would visit him in Moscow and deepen the partnership between the two countries.

Wang insisted that Russia-China relations cannot be influenced by other countries amid crippling Western sanctions against Moscow in response to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine nearly a year ago.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Chinese Foreign Affairs Central Commission Office Director Wang Yi walk into a room during a meeting in Moscow, Russia, on Wednesday.

Ukrainian service members ride tanks, as Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues, near the town of Bakhmut, in Donetsk region, Ukraine, on Tuesday.

Earlier today, Wang met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and repeated the same lines about how China remains “committed” to “preserving” its ties with Russia “no matter how the international situation changes.”

“I am ready to exchange views with you, my dear friend, on issues of mutual interest, and hope to reach new agreements,” Wang told Lavrov through an interpreter.

“No matter how the international situation changes, China has been and remains committed, together with Russia, to making efforts to preserve the positive trend in the development of major-power relations,” Wang said.

Wang said he will work to “strengthen and deepen” relations between Moscow and Beijing. He did not provide specific details about what deals might be reached during his visit.

Wang’s visit to Moscow came after news broke that Chinese President Xi Jinping is preparing to visit the city himself for a summit with Putin in the coming months, sources familiar with the plan said.

During the visit, Xi is expected to urge Putin not to use nuclear weapons and pressure the Kremlin to hold peace talks with Ukraine nearly a year after Russia invaded Ukraine.

Preparations for the trip are at an early stage and the timing has not been defined, the Wall Street Journal said, adding that Xi could visit in April or early May, when Russia celebrates its World War II victory over the Hitler’s Germany.

Meanwhile, Putin announced yesterday that Russia was suspending its participation in a historic nuclear arms treaty with the United States.

Putin also said Russia should stand ready to resume nuclear weapons tests if the United States does so, a move that would end a global ban on such tests in place since the Cold War era.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken described Moscow’s decision as “really unfortunate and very irresponsible”.

“We will watch closely to see what Russia actually does,” he said while visiting Greece.

It was the second time in recent days that the Ukraine war showed it could spill over into dangerous new terrain, after Blinken told China over the weekend that it would be a “serious problem” if Beijing provided weapons and ammunition to China. Russia.

Wang is expected to discuss Xi’s trip to Russia while in Moscow, sources familiar with the summit planning said.

The Chinese diplomat told one of Putin’s closest allies yesterday that Beijing’s relationship with Moscow was “rock-solid” and would withstand any test in a changing international situation.

China’s ‘no limits’ partnership with Russia has come under scrutiny in the West after the United States said it was concerned that Beijing might be considering supplying Russia with weapons a year after the invasion of Ukraine.

At a meeting in Moscow, Wang Yi told Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of Russia’s powerful Security Council, that he was looking forward to security discussions.

“Sino-Russian relations have a mature character: they are rock-solid and will withstand any test in a changing international situation,” Wang told “comrade” Patrushev through a Russian interpreter in remarks broadcast on state television.

This aerial photo shows destroyed residential buildings in the village of Bohorodychne, Donetsk region, on February 21.

A Ukrainian serviceman walks down an empty street as he patrols the area, as Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues, in the frontline town of Bakhmut, Ukraine, on February 21.

Wang said that Russia and China should work out new joint steps to ensure the security of both countries, without elaborating.

Patrushev, close to Putin, told ‘comrade’ Wang that Beijing was one of the top priorities of Russian foreign policy and that the two countries must stand together against the West.

“In the context of a campaign being waged by the collective West to contain both Russia and China, the further deepening of Russian-Chinese cooperation and interaction in the international arena is of particular importance,” RIA quoted Patrushev as saying.

Xi has supported Putin, resisting Western pressure to isolate Russia. In fact, Sino-Russian trade has exploded since the invasion of Ukraine, and Russia has sold larger volumes of oil to Asian powers, including China.

Putin and Xi share a broad worldview that sees the West as decadent and in decline just as China challenges US supremacy in everything from technology to espionage to military power.

Beijing has refused to condemn Russia’s invasion or atrocities against civilians in Ukraine and has strongly criticized Western economic sanctions against Moscow. Late last year, Russia and China held joint naval exercises in the East China Sea.

The United States presents China and Russia as the two biggest nation-state threats to its security. China is seen by Washington as the most serious long-term ‘strategic competitor’ and Russia as an ‘acute threat’.

“I want to confirm our continued support for Beijing on the Taiwan, Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong issues,” Patrushev said.

Meanwhile, Putin yesterday suspended Moscow’s participation in the New START nuclear treaty. The pact, signed in 2010 by the United States and Russia, limits the number of long-range nuclear warheads both sides can deploy and limits the use of missiles that can carry atomic weapons.

The despot claimed the West was conspiring for “unlimited power” and vowed to “systematically” continue the offensive in Ukraine during an explosive state of the union speech in Russia’s parliament.

He told the lawmakers that he was addressing them “at a time that we all know is a difficult and defining moment for our country, a time of cardinal and irreversible changes around the world, the most important historical events that will shape the future. of our country and our people.

He added: “The responsibility for fueling the Ukrainian conflict, for its escalation, for the number of casualties… falls entirely on Western elites.”

Kiev was quick to respond to the Russian leader, with presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak saying the speech demonstrated the “hopelessness of (Putin’s) position” and that he was “in a completely different reality.”