Putin Seeks To Strengthen Military Cooperation With Communist China

On December 30th, several media outlets reported that Vladimir Putin and Communist China leader Xi Jinping have vowed to deepen relations between Moscow and Beijing. In his opening remarks at the video conference with Xi on Friday, Putin invited Xi to make a state visit to Russia in the spring, saying it would show the world “the strength of Russian-Chinese ties on key issues.” Putin believes that despite the pressure from the West, he and Xi share the same views on “the causes, course, and logic of the ongoing transformation of the global geopolitical landscape.” He stressed the importance of “strategic partnership” in the growing geopolitical tensions. Putin also noted that military cooperation has a “special place” in relations between the two countries and that Russia wishes to “strengthen cooperation with Chinese armed forces.”Chinese official media reported that Xi called Putin his “dear friend” in the opening speech, saying that in the face of a difficult and discordant international situation, Communist China is expecting to increase its strategic cooperation with Russia, offering mutual development opportunities and becoming a global partner.