Russia, China reaffirm cooperation and discuss Ukraine conflict

Russian leader Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping celebrated 75 years of diplomatic relations Thursday in Beijing.

In what ways did the two leaders commit to increasing cooperation? Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua said that the two countries would increase trade and economic cooperation and people-to-people exchanges. The two powers are also set to increase their military cooperation and plan joint military drills, according to Russian state media group TASS.

What did they say about the Ukraine conflict? According to TASS, China and Russian officials discussed a diplomatic end to hostilities and called dialogue the best tool for ending the war. A joint statement by the two powers said that all countries’ security interests should be respected in the discussions about ending the conflict.

The Kremlin praised what it called an unbiased perspective of China regarding the conflict, Russian state media said. Putin told Xinhua before the discussions between him and Xi that he was never opposed to negotiating a peace deal in Ukraine.

What does the United States have to say? The United States has found it unacceptable that Chinese companies have supplied the Russian military during its war against Ukraine, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Wednesday before the meeting. She added that other leading economic powers and NATO members also held the same view.

Dig deeper: Read Brad Littlejohn’s column in WORLD Opinions about how China is seeking to undermine the United States.