Putin and Xi meet in Kazakhstan

2024-07-03 22:37:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

File photo of the meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping/Sputnik via AP

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping met today as part of a forum on security and defense in Eurasia, which Moscow and Beijing see as a means of countering Western influence.

President Putin said during the meeting that the two countries act based on their interests, that they are not directed against any other country.

"Our cooperation is not directed against anyone. We do not create blocs or alliances, we only act on the basis of the interests of our peoples," declared Mr. Putin at the beginning of the bilateral meeting with President Xi.

In his comments, President Xi emphasized that China and Russia should "maintain the original goal of generational friendship" in the face of "a constantly changing international situation."

The meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization is being held in Astana, Kazakhstan.

In addition to Russia and China, this forum established in 2001 that also includes the main powers of Central Asia, has been expanded to include India, Iran and Pakistan, as an effort to balance the West.

In addition to the meeting with Chinese President Xi, which is the second meeting in the last two months, Russian President Putin will also hold bilateral meetings with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and the leaders of Azerbaijan, Mongolia and Pakistan. He will also attend an informal dinner hosted by the President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is expected to visit Moscow later this month, will not attend the meeting. He has sent the foreign minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, there.

Russia and China view the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, known as the SCO, which aims for joint approaches to external threats on issues such as drug trafficking and focuses on countering internal destabilization, as a means of projecting influence. theirs in Asia.

"The leaders of the SCO member states will discuss the current situation, opportunities to deepen multidimensional cooperation within the organization and improve the organization's activities," said a Kremlin announcement.

At last year's meeting, the group released a statement critical of what it called the negative impact of the "unilateral and unlimited expansion of air defense systems in the world by certain states or groups of states," without directly referring to the expansion. of NATO and military aid to Western Ukraine.

China and Russia announced a "no-holds-barred" partnership between them in February 2022, when Russian President Putin visited Beijing, just days before launching an attack on Ukraine. Since then, Mr. Xi and Mr. Putin have deepened their partnership.

The two leaders believe that the post-Cold War era, dominated by the United States, is coming to an end.

The United States considers China as its main competitor and Russia as the country that poses the greatest threat. US President Joe Biden says that this century will be defined by the existential race between democracies and autocracies.

The United States views Presidents Xi and Putin as authoritarian rulers who suppress free speech and exercise tight control in their countries over the media and courts. Mr. Biden has referred to Mr. Xi as a "dictator" and said that Mr. Putin is a "murderer" and "crazy." Beijing and Moscow have criticized President Biden for these comments.

According to the Kremlin, Belarus will participate for the first time in this meeting as a full member of the organization.

Other countries involved in talks with this organization are Bahrain, Cambodia, Egypt, Kuwait, Myanmar, Nepal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The Secretary General of the United Nations Organization, Antonio Guterres is expected to participate in the Astana meeting./ VOA