Presidents of Russia and China Reject Washington’s “Unipolar” Policy in Thousand-Year-Old City
While it is now well known that Russia and China have long been on a convergent path in many areas, not only in trade, energy or military cooperation, but also in a joint geostrategy, their respective presidents, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, they often view this proximity as a wake-up call to their adversaries, the United States, NATO and the West as a whole.
This Thursday, in the thousand-year-old Uzbek city of Samarkand, they had the opportunity to once again emphasize their commonalities and pledge to offer an alternative to what they see as the “unipolar” world promoted by Washington on a global level. Putin and Xi last met in Beijing in early February for the opening of the Winter Olympics, just days before Russia began its invasion of Ukraine. They then proclaimed a “boundless” friendship. Since then, as both emphasized this Thursday, they have spoken on the phone many times.
One of the topics that formed an important part of the talks in Samarkand between the leaders of China and Russia was the situation around Ukraine. In this regard, Putin stated at the beginning of the meeting with his Chinese counterpart that “we very much appreciate the balanced position of the Chinese friends regarding the crisis in Ukraine, we understand their questions and concerns about this issue and during this meeting, We will of course explain our position on this in detail, although we have discussed this before.’
The war in Ukraine is one of the few sensitive topics in Moscow-Beijing relations. On the one hand, China did not support Russia when the UN voted for a resolution condemning the invasion of Ukraine, but on the other, it did not openly oppose the invasion or join the sanctions. However, sources on both sides insist Xi would like the war to end as soon as possible and have asked Putin to enter into negotiations with Kiev.
The issue of Taiwan was also discussed on Thursday. The Russian president told his Chinese counterpart that Moscow adheres to the “one China” principle and condemned “the provocations of the United States and its satellites in the Taiwan Strait.” The Chinese military and navy have held military exercises simulating a blockade of the island around Taiwan after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited last month. The government of Taipei categorically rejects China’s claims for sovereignty.
Pressure from the US and its allies on Moscow and Beijing precisely for violating principles of international law in the cases of Ukraine and Taiwan motivated Putin to attack the concept of a “unipolar world” that he believes Washington defends.
“Attempts to create a unipolar world have recently taken on an absolutely monstrous form and are completely unacceptable,” the Kremlin chief said. To which Xi replied that “China is ready to make efforts with Russia to assume their responsibilities as superpowers and take on the role of guide to inject stability and positive energy into a chaotic world.” According to Beijing media, the President of the People’s Republic of China has promised Putin that his country will “work with Russia to (…) strongly support mutual fundamental interests and deepen trade, agriculture and other areas”.
The meeting held by the presidents of Russia and China in Samarkand was organized on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit, whose work begins tomorrow and in which, in addition to Putin and Xi, the leaders of India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The SCO also includes four “observer” countries, Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia, and six associated countries, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Turkey. This alliance, founded in 2001, is an organization with a political, economic and security character vis-à-vis Western institutions.
Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov said this week that “the SCO offers a real alternative to western-oriented organizations”. In his words, “it is not a formal military bloc like NATO or an integrated organization like the European Union, but its members work together on security, military cooperation and trade facilitation.”
The Russian and Chinese presidents held a trilateral meeting on energy with Mongolia’s leader, Ujnaagiin Jurelsuj, on Thursday, mainly devoted to discussing the gas pipeline that Russia is currently building to supply fuel to China and will pass through Mongolia.
Putin also met with the presidents of Kyrgyzstan, Sadir Zhaparov, Turkmenistan, Serdar Berdimujamédov, Uzbekistan, the host, Shavkat Mirziyóyev, with whom he signed a declaration of “strategic partnership”, the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shehbaz Sharif, and also with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. the only “observer” country that has almost completed the process of joining the SCO, which is why it received congratulations from its Russian counterpart.
“We are doing everything we can to make Iran a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization,” Putin said. Raisi said that “the relationship between the United States-sanctioned countries, such as Iran, Russia or other countries, can solve and strengthen many problems and problems.”
This is the second Putin-Raisi summit in two months. The first assured that preparations for a “major treaty” between Moscow and Tehran are underway and that an 80-strong Russian business delegation will soon travel to Iran to finalize trade ties.
Iran applied to join the SCO in 2008, but its candidacy was hampered by UN and US sanctions. Later, in September last year, members of the organization in Dushanbé, the capital of Tajikistan, decided to give the green light for the accession of the Central Asian country.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko was also in Samarkand today and was able to meet with Xi. Tomorrow’s highlight, aside from the SCO summit itself, will be Putin’s meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He also met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Source: La Verdad
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