(Reuters) – The secretary of Russia’s powerful Security Council told China’s top diplomat Wang Yi on Tuesday that Beijing was a top priority for Russian foreign policy and that the two countries must stick together against the West, Russian state news agencies reported.
Nikolai Patrushev, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, also told Wang that Moscow backed China’s position over Taiwan, Hong Kong and Xinjiang, according to a statement cited by the RIA Novosti news agency.
The two were meeting in Moscow as China appears to be ramping up its diplomatic efforts to push for a peace settlement in Ukraine, and just hours after Putin announced Russia was suspending its participation in a landmark nuclear arms treaty with the United States.
“In the context of a campaign that is being waged by the collective West to contain both Russia and China, further deepening of Russian-Chinese cooperation and interaction in the international area is of particular importance,” RIA cited Patrushev as saying during the meeting on Tuesday evening.
“I want to confirm our continued support for Beijing over the issues of Taiwan, Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong,” Patrushev added.
Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping signed a “no limits” strategic partnership just days before Russia invaded Ukraine last February, and Moscow has talked up its close ties with Beijing, which it sees as a partner in a powerful anti-Western tandem.
But Putin was forced last year to publicly acknowledge Xi had concerns over Russia’s actions in Ukraine. While Putin used a major speech on Tuesday to outline his commitment to securing a Russian victory in Ukraine, Xi is expected to make a “peace speech” in China on Friday to mark the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion.
Wang was also due to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday as part of the visit to Moscow – the latest stop in a European tour – and the Kremlin has not ruled out a possible meeting with Putin.
(Reporting by Jake Cordell; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)
