China-Russia ties: Vladimir Putin confirms he will meet Xi Jinping in Beijing for Belt and Road Forum next month
- In St Petersburg, Russian president tells Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi he will attend forum, saying the strategy ‘fully meets and coincides’ with Russia’s interests
- Nikolai Patrushev, head of the Security Council of Russia, warns China and Mongolia of potential attempts to start colour revolutions in the region
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“We believe in merging our vision of creating a Greater Eurasian space with the idea of our Chinese friends as part of the Belt and Road Initiative, and we have been quite good at synchronising our efforts,” he said, according to a statement released by the Kremlin.
However, progress has been slow.
During the meeting in St Petersburg on Wednesday, Putin called for stronger ties with China in the face of global challenges.
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Xi’s visit to Moscow in March “served as a positive impetus for promoting our bilateral ties”, Putin told Wang.
“This relates to international affairs where … our positions coincide regarding the emergence of a multipolar world instead of some kind of rules-based order. No one has seen these rules and they keep changing every day depending on momentary considerations, and to benefit those who came up with this absurd formula.”
According to the Chinese readout, Putin told Wang his country had defeated economic sanctions by the West.
“We look forward to strengthening planning and deepening practical cooperation with China,” the Russian leader was quoted as saying.
In response, Wang said Beijing and Moscow “should strengthen multilateral strategic cooperation, safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the two countries and make new efforts to promote the development of the international order in a just and reasonable direction”.
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Wang, who is also a Politburo member and director of the Communist Party’s Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission, has been in Russia for the latest round of bilateral strategic security consultations since Monday.
Earlier in Moscow, he held separate meetings with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Nikolai Patrushev, the head of the Security Council of Russia, as well as with Jadamba Enkhbayar, secretary of the Mongolian National Security Council.
On Tuesday, Wang joined a trilateral security meeting with Russian and Mongolian counterparts in Moscow, during which the three countries agreed to deepen strategic coordination to “ensure stability in the region”.
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According to the Chinese foreign ministry, Wang urged the three neighbours to strengthen trilateral cooperation under their “inherent geographical advantages and deep-rooted traditions”.
Patrushev, meanwhile, warned there was a prospect of colour revolution attempts in the region, while Enkhbayar said his country was willing to strengthen political trust with its two neighbours.
