Vladimir Putin has welcomed his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to Moscow, simply days after a warrant was issued for the Russian president’s arrest over alleged battle crimes in Ukraine.
The two leaders, who referred to as one another “dear friend” and exchanged compliments through the assembly on the Kremlin, had been locked in talks for greater than 4 hours on Monday.
Mr Putin admitted he was “slightly envious” of China’s “very effective system” of financial development, whereas Mr Xi stated Russia had made “great strides in its prosperous development”.
The discussions are a part of a three-day journey, described by each nations as a chance to deepen their “no limits friendship”.
However, the US criticised the go to, which got here after the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant on Friday which accused Mr Putin of being answerable for abducting Ukrainian youngsters – one thing Moscow denies.
Washington stated the timing of the go to confirmed Beijing was offering Moscow with “diplomatic cover” to commit additional crimes.
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But in Moscow, Mr Putin stated Mr Xi’s presence was a prestigious, diplomatic triumph amid Western efforts to isolate Russia after its invasion of Ukraine.
In an article printed within the Chinese People’s Daily newspaper forward of the go to, Mr Putin took goal on the US, saying the 2 nations weren’t ready to just accept makes an attempt to weaken them.
“The US policy of simultaneously deterring Russia and China, as well as all those who do not bend to the American diktat, is getting ever fiercer and more aggressive,” he wrote.
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Meanwhile Beijing, which insists the assembly is a part of regular diplomatic exchanges between the 2 nations, described the go to as a “journey of friendship, co-operation and peace”.
But whereas the pair each talked up their “strategic partnership”, China maintained its public neutrality on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as an alternative positioning itself as a peacemaker.
“China will uphold its objective and fair position on the Ukrainian crisis and play a constructive role in promoting peace talks,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin stated.
The West has claimed China was contemplating supplying Russia’s battle machine – a transfer that may worsen relations with Washington and switch vital European commerce companions towards Mr Xi’s administration.
But Beijing has now seemingly gone chilly on the thought. However, it has refused to sentence Moscow’s aggression and has strongly criticised Western sanctions towards Moscow.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, whose deliberate journey to Beijing earlier this yr was scrapped on the final minute following a row over alleged Chinese spy balloons, slammed the go to, saying the ICC warrant ought to make Mr Putin a pariah.
“That President Xi is travelling to Russia days after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for President Putin suggests that China feels no responsibility to hold the Kremlin accountable for the atrocities committed in Ukraine,” America’s prime diplomat stated.
“Instead of even condemning them it would rather provide diplomatic cover for Russia to continue to commit those grave crimes.”
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Mr Putin has not commented publicly on the ICC’s arrest warrant, however his spokesman referred to as it “null and void” on Friday.
Russia – in addition to the US and China – doesn’t recognise the jurisdiction of the courtroom, which relies in The Hague.
It additionally doesn’t extradite its residents to face the courtroom’s justice, that means Mr Putin is unlikely to ever face trial there.
Source: information.sky.com”