Putin tells Xi China-Russia ties are at 'unprecedented level'

Putin tells Xi China-Russia ties are at 'unprecedented level'
by AFP Staff Writers
Beijing (AFP) Sept 2, 2025

Russian President Vladimir Putin told his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Tuesday that their countries' ties were at an "unprecedented level", during talks in Beijing ahead of a massive military parade.

Wednesday's showcase of China's might has been seized by world leaders as an opportunity to hold rare face-to-face talks, with North Korea's Kim Jong Un expected to hold summits with both Putin and Xi according to South Korean sources.

Xi himself has embarked on a flurry of diplomatic meetings this week, including attendance at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in the northern city of Tianjin -- a forum that China sees as an alternative to Western-dominated international cooperation.

Meeting Xi on Tuesday, Putin told him "our close communication reflects the strategic nature of Russian-Chinese ties, which are currently at an unprecedented level", according to a pooled live feed.

In a nod to cooperation between the two countries during the war, Putin said "we were always together then, and we remain together now".

The military parade on Wednesday marks 80 years since the end of World War II and will be attended by around two dozen world leaders, including Kim in his first visit to China since 2019.

Kim is expected to mingle with other world leaders at a gala performance, as well as meet Xi and Putin for talks, Lee Seong-kweun, a South Korean member of parliament briefed by Seoul's spy agency, told reporters.

Putin is also expected to meet with Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico.

Fico has irked European leaders by criticising the bloc's support for Ukraine and pushing back against efforts to cut energy imports from Russia. Slovakia is highly reliant on Russian gas.

- Global turmoil -

The Chinese and Russian leaders criticised Western governments during the summit on Monday, where Xi slammed "bullying behaviour" from certain countries -- a veiled reference to the United States, while Putin defended Russia's Ukraine offensive and blamed the West for triggering the conflict.

"China-Russia relations have withstood the test of international changes," Xi told Putin on Tuesday.

Xi added that Beijing was willing to work with Moscow to "promote the construction of a more just and reasonable global governance system".

The two leaders are in regular contact, and in May, Xi visited Moscow for Russia's celebrations of the World War II defeat of the Nazis.

Moscow and Beijing declared a "no limits partnership" shortly before Putin ordered Russia's Ukraine offensive in February 2022. The expanded military and trade ties since have troubled the West.

On Tuesday Russian state media reported that energy giant Gazprom had struck a deal with China National Petroleum Corporation to boost gas supplies from Russia to China by about 15 percent.

China has never denounced Russia's war nor called for it to withdraw its troops, and many of Ukraine's allies believe that Beijing has provided support to Moscow.

Beijing insists it is a neutral party, regularly calling for an end to the fighting while also accusing Western countries of prolonging the conflict by arming Ukraine.

North Korea, meanwhile, has thrown itself firmly behind Moscow, sending troops to help fight Ukraine.

Around 2,000 North Koreans are estimated to have been killed in the conflict, Seoul's spy agency said Tuesday, according to lawmaker Lee.

Xi and Putin round on West at regional summit in China
Tianjin, China (AFP) Sept 1, 2025 - Presidents Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin took turns Monday to swipe at the West during a gathering of Eurasian leaders for a showpiece summit aimed at putting Beijing front and centre of regional relations.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), comprising China, India, Russia, Pakistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Belarus, is touted as a non-Western style of collaboration and seeks to be an alternative to traditional alliances.

Xi told the SCO leaders, including Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, that the global international situation was becoming more "chaotic and intertwined".

The Chinese leader also slammed "bullying behaviour" from certain countries -- a veiled reference to the United States.

"The security and development tasks facing member states have become even more challenging," he added in his address in the northern port city of Tianjin.

"With the world undergoing turbulence and transformation, we must continue to follow the Shanghai spirit...and better perform the functions of the organisation," Xi said.

Putin used his speech to defend Russia's Ukraine offensive, blaming the West for triggering the three-and-a-half year conflict that has killed tens of thousands and devastated much of eastern Ukraine.

"This crisis wasn't triggered by Russia's attack on Ukraine, but was a result of a coup in Ukraine, which was supported and provoked by the West," Putin said.

"The second reason for the crisis is the West's constant attempts to drag Ukraine into NATO."

Meanwhile, Putin praised Turkey's mediation attempts around the Ukraine war during his first meeting this year with Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday.

Turkey has hosted three rounds of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine this year that have failed to break the deadlock over how to end the conflict.

- 'Always insightful' -

Earlier, leaders from the 10 SCO countries stood on a red carpet and posed for a group photo.

Xi, Putin and Modi were seen on live footage chatting, the three leaders flanked by their translators. Modi and Putin, who were photographed holding hands, held talks in the afternoon.

Russian state media reported the pair spent nearly an hour talking "face-to-face" in Putin's armoured presidential car before their official bilateral meeting.

"Conversations with him are always insightful," Modi wrote on X along with a photograph of them travelling in the car.

In opening comments before their meeting, Modi praised the "special and privileged strategic partnership" with Moscow.

"India and Russia have stood shoulder to shoulder, even in the toughest situations," he said.

On the conflict in Ukraine, Modi said India wanted both sides to end it "as soon as possible and to find stable peace".

- Flurry of meetings -

The SCO summit, which also involves 16 more countries as observers or "dialogue partners", kicked off on Sunday, days before a massive military parade in the capital Beijing to mark 80 years since the end of World War II.

The member states signed a declaration Monday, agreeing to strengthen cooperation in sectors such as security and economy, China's Xinhua news agency said.

They also "unanimously agreed" to admit Laos as a "dialogue partner", Xinhua added.

Putin touched down in Tianjin on Sunday with an entourage of senior politicians and business representatives.

Xi held a flurry of back-to-back bilateral meetings with leaders including Lukashenko -- one of Putin's staunch allies -- and Modi, who is on his first visit to China since 2018.

Modi told Xi that India was committed to taking "forward our ties on the basis of mutual trust, dignity and sensitivity".

The world's two most populous nations are intense rivals, competing for influence across South Asia, and fought a deadly border clash in 2020.

A thaw began last October, when Modi met Xi for the first time in five years at a summit in Russia.

Their rapprochement deepened as US President Donald Trump pressured both Asian economic giants with trade tariffs.

More than 20 leaders, including Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, are attending the bloc's largest meeting since its founding in 2001.

Putin is expected to hold talks on Monday with Pezeshkian about Tehran's nuclear programme.

Many of the assembled dignitaries will be in Beijing on Wednesday to watch the military parade, which will also be attended by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.