(Moscow) Chinese President Xi Jinping left Moscow on Wednesday morning after a two-day trip to Russia focused on strengthening ties with his counterpart Vladimir Putin, Russian agencies reported.
Xi’s plane left Moscow’s Vnukovo airport after being greeted by an honor guard who played Russian and Chinese national anthems, RIA Novosti news agency reported. Senior Russian government officials attended the takeoff.
During this visit, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping on Tuesday praised the entry into a “ new era ” of their “ special ” relationship with Westerners, the Russian President cautiously supporting the Chinese plan to settle the conflict in Ukraine, while accusing Kyiv of rejecting him.
In the absence of a breakthrough on Ukraine, the summit aimed above all to demonstrate the solidity of relations between Russia and China, in a context of heightened tensions between these countries and the West.
In a joint statement with Cold War overtones, the two leaders strongly attacked the West, accusing the United States of “undermining” international security to maintain their “military advantage”, and expressed their “concern” at the growing NATO presence in Asia.
Mr. Xi’s trip to Moscow was an important support for the Russian head of state, targeted since last week by an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The visit of the Chinese president to Russia also comes at a time when the latter has massively reoriented its economy towards China, in the face of Western sanctions of which it is the target.
In this context, Mr. Putin announced on Tuesday that he had reached an agreement with Mr. Xi on the gigantic Siberian Force 2 gas pipeline project, which will allow Russia to supply an additional 50 billion cubic meters of gas per year.
Treated as an outcast by Westerners since the start of the conflict in Ukraine, Mr. Putin can count on Beijing to break the isolation: Mr. Xi has thus invited him to visit China this year.
