The two presidents signed a 31-item joint document under the name “Joint Declaration on the Entry into a New Era of International Relations and Sustainable Development”.
3 security messages for the west
The document, which condemned the “negative impact” of Washington’s influence on stability and just peace in the world, focused on Russia’s most urgent security files at the international and regional levels, and sent several messages to the West.
According to observers, 3 messages from Putin to the West were highlighted about the files and security guarantees for Moscow in light of the tension in the Ukrainian crisis.
The first message was an attack on Washington, which demanded that it remove its stockpiles of chemical weapons and stop American “negative interference” in the Indo-Pacific region.
She also expressed Russian concern over US plans to develop a global missile defense system and deploy medium and short-range missiles in the Asia-Pacific and Europe regions.
As for the second message, it was a criticism of the “Okos” military alliance between the United States, Britain and Australia, stressing that it “increases the risk of an arms race in the region and creates the risks of proliferation of nuclear weapons.”
And in the third, Moscow opposes NATO’s expansion and its ideological approach that dates back to the Cold War, and called on it to “abandon the Cold War mentality”, reduce reliance on its nuclear arsenal in its security policies, and withdraw all its nuclear weapons deployed outside its borders.
British writer Roland Oliphant considered that the joint declaration heralded the beginning of a new geopolitical era.
And he adds in the British newspaper “The Telegraph”, Vladimir Putin is “the main beneficiary of this announcement”, because the support of an economic and political giant such as Beijing brings great benefits to Moscow.”
Here, an expert on Russian affairs, Nabil Rashwan, says that Putin made good use of the Winter Olympics, when he met his Chinese counterpart, and stressed that relations between the two countries are ideal.
He added, in exclusive statements to “Sky News Arabia”, that “Putin obtained the support of the Chinese president by declaring the latter’s rejection of NATO expansion, although Xi Jinping did not mention the names of specific countries, and this is a diplomatic act by him.”
Rashwan added, “The two presidents rejected foreign interventions and attempts to impose specific political regimes on countries through color revolutions. Most importantly, the visit resulted in China contracting to purchase 20 billion cubic meters of gas and supplying it with Russian oil.”
Gas weapon in Ukraine crisis
At a time when the dispute between Putin and European importers over Ukraine is escalating, the Russian President announced the signing of two new agreements in the oil and gas sector with China worth $117.5 billion.
Russia, Beijing’s third-largest gas supplier, is working to strengthen ties with China, the world’s largest energy consumer, reducing Moscow’s dependence on its traditional customers in Europe.
“Our energy people have prepared very good new solutions on hydrocarbon supply to China,” Putin said in his meeting with Xi Jinping, adding, “We have made a step forward in the gas industry.”
According to the Russian gas giant “Gazprom”, the value of the deal signed between the two countries is $80 billion, in addition to another deal to supply 100 million tons of oil through Kazakhstan over 10 years.
Since 2005, Russia’s “Rosneft” has supplied China with a total of 445 million tons of oil.
Regarding the possibility of Russia using gas as a weapon in the Ukraine crisis, Amr El-Deeb, assistant professor at the Russian State University of Lobachevsky, said: “Russia cannot use gas as a weapon against the European Union, because it is linked with some of its countries for long-term contracts.”
He added in exclusive statements to “Sky News Arabia”: “But there is a percentage that Russia can manipulate with the European market, which is the spot market in which Russia sells gas, but it is not large, and American liquefied gas and gas coming from Azerbaijan can ease the Russian gas crisis.” on Europe.”
However, this prompts European countries to think about getting rid of their energy dependence on Russia in the near future, so it is not in the interest of the Russians after the establishment of two large projects to transport gas, “Turkish Stream” and “Nord Stream 2″ for the long term,” according to El-Deeb.
And he added, “Moscow’s use of the gas card may also lose the French-Italian-German support for Russian gas projects to transport it to Europe.”
3 crises rise
And on the impact of the joint declaration, 3 protracted crises arose, which have always arisen in the event of rivalries between Moscow, Washington and Beijing.
Taiwan quickly rejected the Chinese-Russian statement, and protested the “one China” principle, which was announced by the statement that Moscow supports the principle of “one China, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China.”
Accordingly, Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded by saying: “We express our resolute protest against the statement, and strongly condemn the false language that violates the sovereignty of the Republic of Taiwan.”
The statement pointed out that “Taiwan and China are not subject to each other. The Chinese government has no right to represent Taiwan in the international arena.”
As for Washington, it tried to extract a condemnation from the Security Council against North Korea over its latest missile tests, but China condemned the move, saying it was a “violation of council resolutions and sanctions imposed on Pyongyang.”
Colombia also accused Russia of “foreign interference” on its border with Venezuela, in statements denied by the Russian embassy in Bogota.
