Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his desire to strengthen military cooperation with China on Friday during a video conference meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, in which he praised Moscow’s and Beijing’s resistance to Western “pressure”.
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“In a context of unprecedented pressure and provocations from the West, we defend our positions of principle,” Putin declared, announcing that he wanted to “strengthen cooperation between the armed forces of Russia and China.”
“Our relations gracefully withstand all tests, demonstrate maturity and stability, and continue to expand dynamically,” the Kremlin chief told Xi.
According to Putin, relations between Moscow and Beijing are “the best in history and a model of cooperation between great powers in the 21st century.”
The Russian leader stressed that a “special” place in relations is occupied by military-technical cooperation between the two countries.
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According to him, this cooperation “contributes to guaranteeing the security of our countries and maintaining stability in key regions.”
“We aim to strengthen cooperation between the Russian and Chinese armed forces”Putin assured. The head of the Kremlin was convinced that next year both leaders will be able to hold a face-to-face meeting.
“With you we see in the same way the causes, the progress and the logic of the transformations of the global geopolitical landscape,” he added.
“Dear friend, we are waiting for you in Moscow”
During the virtual meeting, the Russian president extended an invitation to meet face to face next year. “Dear Mr. President, dear friend, we are waiting for you in Moscow with a state visit next spring,” Putin said.
He stressed that this visit will demonstrate to the world the strength of Russian-Chinese relations. and it will be “the main event of the year in bilateral relations.”
Regarding economic relations, he said that despite the foreign situation “illegitimate restrictions and direct blackmail by some Western countries, Russia and China have managed to guarantee record rates of trade.”
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The two countries anticipate a prosperous trade relationship
The Russian president stressed that This year, trade between the two countries will increase “approximately 25%.”
“With this dynamic, the objective that we have set ourselves of reaching 200,000 million dollars (of commercial exchange) by 2024 can be achieved in advance,” he said.
Xi, for his part, stated, according to the translation provided by Russian television, that Beijing was willing to increase strategic interaction with Russia that offers the parties “possibilities for development”.
According to the Chinese leader, being “global partners benefits the people” of both countries. In addition, He stressed that this year he has had two face-to-face meetings with Putin with whom he has also spoken on the phone “on several occasions”.
“We maintain close strategic contact,” he told the Kremlin chief, adding that relations with Russia have shown their “resilience” in the “new era” the world is experiencing.
INTERNATIONAL WRITING*
With information from EFE and AFP
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