Crisis in Ukraine: China backs Russia's 'reasonable concerns'
Vladimir Putin will be in Beijing next week.
This will be the first head to head for Xi Jinping since the start of the pandemic. (Here, the Russian and Chinese presidents in Brasilia, November 12, 2019).
© AP - Ramil Sitdikov
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
During a telephone exchange with his American counterpart Antony Blinken, the Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Wang Yi, expressed his support for Moscow, while the two capitals have multiplied the signs of rapprochement in recent weeks.
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With our correspondent in Beijing,
Stéphane Lagarde
Beijing and Moscow tell each other almost everything on the Ukrainian question.
In any case, this is what the Russian ambassador to China suggests, the latter having affirmed at the beginning of the week that the Russian authorities kept the Chinese side informed on a daily basis of its security talks with NATO.
Moscow and Beijing are getting closer in the face of
pressure from the West
.
A strategic cooperation agreement was reached during a virtual exchange between Chinese and Russian Asian Affairs officials on Tuesday.
And it is a very real Vladimir Putin who is expected next week in the stands of the Winter Olympics.
His arrival will provide an opportunity for a summit meeting for the leaders of the two countries.
It will even be the first head-to-head for Xi Jinping since the start of the pandemic.
An old friend "
The Russian ambassador says that Vladimir Putin would not come to Beijing empty-handed.
Russian gas has flowed heavily through pipelines serving China in recent months.
From there to speak of a reconstitution of the dissolved blocks, there is a step.
During their videoconference last December, Xi Jinping referred to his Russian counterpart as an "
old friend
", but he used exactly the same terms during his virtual summit with Joe Biden.
Russia 's “
reasonable concerns must be taken seriously and addressed
” repeated Wang Yi on Thursday, while calling on “
all parties to calm down and refrain from increasing tensions and escalating the crisis.
»
During the
riots in Kazakhstan
last month, Beijing also formally supported sending Russian troops to Almaty, but at the same time tried to strengthen its
ties with Central Asian countries
.
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Russia
China
Ukraine
Vladimir Poutine
Xi Jinping