Chinese President Xi Jinping said he invited his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to visit China this year, Russian news agencies reported Both leaders will hold a second round of talks in Moscow on Tuesday.
“Yesterday I invited President Putin to visit China this year at a time that is convenient for him,” Xi Jinping said during a meeting with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.
During his meeting with PM Mishustin, Xi said Beijing and Moscow are “great neighbouring powers” and “strategic partners” and China will prioritise ties with Russia.
Newly chosen Chinese Premier Li Qiang also said China will prioritise ties with Russia and strengthen strategic partnership.
“(Beijing will) continue to prioritise the all-round strategic partnership between China and Russia. We are great neighbouring powers and comprehensive strategic partners,” Xi Jinping said.
Meanwhile, Russian energy major Gazprom on Tuesday said that the company reached a daily record in gas volumes supplied to China through the Power of Siberia pipeline.
“Gazprom delivered requested volumes and set a new historical record for daily gas supplies to China,” Gazprom said in a statement released hours ahead of the meeting between Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin.
Putin and Xi held discussions on the war in Ukraine as well on Monday and Putin told Xi that Russia was open to discussing China’s proposals to end the conflict in Ukraine.
Both leaders held talks for four and a half hours during which they mostly discussed China’s 12-point position paper on the Ukraine conflict, which includes a call for dialogue and respect for all countries’ territorial sovereignty.
Both leaders also discussed “plenty of common objectives and tasks” which are priorities for their respective countries.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken asked Xi Jinping to speak to Volodymyr Zelensky and the Ukrainian leadership. “If China is committed to supporting an end to the war based on the principles of the United Nations Charter as called for in Point One of its plan, it can engage with Volodymyr Zelensky and Ukraine on this basis,” Blinken said.
Kyiv also called for direct talks between Xi and Zelensky and said: “We expect Beijing to use its influence on Moscow to make it put an end to the aggressive war against Ukraine,” Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said, according to AFP.
Read all the Latest News here
