Page 56 - bne monthly magazine June 2024 Russian Despair Index

56 I Eastern Europe bne June 2024
Russia's Putin and China's Xi held in-depth wide-ranging talks in Beijing, Putin's first foreign trip since being re-elected, as the two countries continue to deepen ties. / bne IntelliNews
Putin, Xi hold in-depth wide-ranging talks in Beijing in symbolic meeting
Ben Aris in Berlin
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin have jointly called for a political resolution to the ongoing war in Ukraine, during the latter's visit to Beijing on May 16.
The leaders signed a joint declaration and discussed deepening bilateral ties, includ- ing cooperation in trade and significant foreign policy issues, on the 75th anniver- sary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
The document was signed after extensive Russian-Chinese negotia- tions. Kremlin foreign policy chief Yury Ushakov said earlier that the document is over 30 pages long.
Ukraine featured prominently in the discussions, where the two leaders walked in a park drinking tea. Xi
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referred to the conflict in Ukraine as a "crisis" during a joint press conference by the two premiers.
"China and Russia are insisting on a political solution to the war in Ukraine," Xi Jinping said, without detailing any specific next steps. Putin expressed gratitude for "China's efforts to resolve the Ukrainian crisis."
On the agenda is an informal dinner in the 1+4 format from both sides. Putin will be joined by Foreign Minister Sergey Lav- rov, Defence Minister Andrey Belousov, Security Council Secretary Sergey Shoigu and presidential aide Yury Ushakov, who will be joined by their Chinese counter- parts. Ukraine will also be the main topic of talks at the dinner.
Beijing is Putin’s first foreign destina- tion after his re-election, although
he has a dozen more invitations from various other countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Putin’s first foreign visit after being first elected in 2000 was to the UK, where he signed off on the creation of the TNK-BP oil company 50:50 joint venture between the British and Russian companies at a time when he was still trying to create a warm rela- tionship with the West.
Ushakov said that China was not ran- domly chosen for the president’s first foreign trip, but as a response to a simi- lar gesture of friendship made by Xi, who made a landmark three-day state visit to Moscow in March 2023 on the tenth anniversary of his election. That trip placed China squarely in Russia’s camp and in open defiance of the West. The two leaders declared a “no-limits” friendship at the meeting just weeks before the invasion of Ukraine, which