Chinese state media reported that the much anticipated meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin has commenced in Beijing. Putin arrived at the capital on Wednesday, welcomed by Xi outside the Great Hall of the People.
The welcome ceremony included Xi and Putin walking down a red carpet, with a military band playing both country’s national anthems.
According to Russian media, Putin praised the “strong” and “positive” momentum in cooperation between the two nations.
Putin told Xi, “Even amid unfavourable external factors, our cooperation and economic cooperation is showing strong, positive momentum.”
Xi also hailed the “unyielding relationship” between China and Russia, according to China’s Xinhua news agency.
“We have been able to continuously deepen our political mutual trust and strategic coordination with a resilience that remains unyielding despite trials and tribulations,” Xi reportedly told Putin.
Xi spoke about the war in West Asia and told Putin that further conflict was “inadvisable”. Xinhua also reported that the Chinese President pushed for a ceasefire.
“A comprehensive ceasefire is of utmost urgency, resuming hostilities is even more inadvisable and maintaining negotiations is particularly important,” he said.
According to Al Jazeera’s Katrina Yu, a large delegation of Russian businesspeople and government leaders accompanied Putin to the visit. The Kremlin also announced that the two leaders would sign around 40 different agreements, covering matters ranging from the economy and tourism to education.
“But I think for Putin, the main topic of discussion with Xi Jinping is going to be on energy security,” Yu said “Since the war in Ukraine, any gas sales that were previously heading to Europe – that is all dried up – and Russia is in desperate need of revenue to replace that, especially since we are in the fifth year of the Ukraine war.”
China also hosted U.S President Donald Trump last week, discussing topics related to trade, business deals, Taiwan, and Iran.
