Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed on Thursday to raise bilateral cooperation to a higher level, assuring each other they would staunchly push against the United States’ global impact. At senior-level talks amidst much fanfare in the Kremlin, the leaders presented their nations as columns supporting a new multipolar world and committed to broader cooperation in the spheres of the economy, defence, and the geopolitics of global politics.
In a joint broad statement, China and Russia pledged to broaden military cooperation and increase coordination to counter what they called Washington’s “dual containment” policy against both Moscow and Beijing. They also reemphasized that a resolution to the conflict in Ukraine needs to address its “root causes,” a term Russia employs to hold NATO expansionism responsible as a pretext a reason disavowed by Ukraine and Western allies as a pretext for an attack.
President Xi, in events in Moscow marking the 80th anniversary of the defeat of World War II, underlined that China and Russia should be “true friends of steel,” strong against “external interference” and devoted to resisting “unilateralism and bullying.” His words repeated traditional resentments over US foreign policy and economic sanctions, especially over China’s ongoing tariff battles and Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Putin praised Xi’s presence at the commemorations as a symbolic gesture of unity, hailing their alliance as a defense of historical truth and a bulwark against modern neo-Nazism. Notably, their joint statement made no mention of the role played by the US or Britain in defeating Nazi Germany, focusing solely on their own contributions.
As Russia struggles with Western sanctions and diplomatic isolation, Beijing’s ongoing backing has brought significant economic relief to Moscow. The leaders vowed to personally oversee all the major dimensions of their collaboration, with a goal of radically increasing trade and investment by 2030.
