Putin to Xi: Russia values China’s ‘balanced position’ on Ukraine

Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping were meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Uzbekistan in their first face-to-face meeting since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

This combination of pictures created on September 15, 2022 shows Russian President Vladimir Putin and China’s President Xi Jinping during their meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation leaders summit in Samarkand. | Photo Credit: AFP

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin told Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday that Moscow backs Beijing’s “One China” policy, opposes “provocations” by the United States in the Taiwan Strait, and values China’s “balanced position” on Ukraine.

The two leaders were meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Uzbekistan. It was their first face-to-face meeting since Russia launched its “special military operation” in Ukraine in February.

In televised opening remarks at the bilateral meeting, Mr. Putin told Mr. Jinping: “We highly value the balanced position of our Chinese friends when it comes to the Ukraine crisis. We understand your questions and concern about this. During today’s meeting, we will of course explain our position.”

Russia has moved closer to China since sending its armed forces into Ukraine in February, a decision that triggered an unprecedented barrage of Western sanctions against Moscow.

Anti-Western alliance

Mr. Putin also threw his weight behind Beijing’s key positions in the brief public statement, aligning the two countries in what analysts see as a fledgling anti-U. S., anti-Western alliance.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, talk during their meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan | Photo Credit: AP

Mr. Putin referred to Beijing’s insistence that other countries do not recognise Taiwan, a self-ruled island that Beijing claims as part of China, as an independent country.

“We intend to firmly adhere to the principle of ‘One China’,” Mr. Putin said.

He added that Russian “condemns provocations by the United States and their satellites in the Taiwan Strait”, a possible reference to U. S. Navy warships sailing through international waters in the Taiwan Strait on Aug. 27.

The United States has no formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan but is bound by law to provide the island with the means to defend itself.

China has never ruled out using force to bring Taiwan under its control.