Moscow (TDI): Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed on Tuesday how to build relations with Donald Trump, prospects for a peace agreement to end the war in Ukraine and Moscow’s firm support for Beijing’s position on Taiwan.
Xi and Putin, who spoke for an hour and 35 minutes by video call after Trump was sworn in as American president on Monday, proposed a further deepening of the strategic partnership between their nations which worries the West, Reuter reported.
China and Russia declared a “no limits” partnership in February 2022 during Putin’s visit to Beijing, just days before his invasion of Ukraine.
Putin has in recent months termed China as an “ally”.
In the video call, Putin called each other “dear friends”, and Xi told his counterpart about a call with Trump on Friday on TikTok, trade and Taiwan.
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Xi and Putin “have expressed readiness to build ties with the US on a mutually beneficial, mutually respectful basis, if the Trump administration really shows interest in this,” Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov told journalists in Moscow.
“It was also noted from our side that we are ready for talks with the new US administration on the Ukrainian conflict.”
Ushakov said Putin wanted long-term peace in Ukraine, not a short-term truce, but any agreement must take into account Russia’s interests.
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No specific proposals for a call with President Trump have been received, he said.
