Russian Security Council Vice President Dmitry Medvedev met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Wednesday during a surprise visit to discuss the two nations’ “strategic partnership” and cooperation.
Medvedev called the talks, which touched on “pressing global issues” including multilateral relations at the UN and the G20, “quite useful.”
According to the president’s secretariat, Medvedev conveyed a message from Russian President Vladimir Putin, in which he expressed “confidence in the constant progressive development” of relations between Russia and China.
Deputy Head of Russia’s Security Council and Chairman of the United Russia Party Dmitry Medvedev, left, shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping before their meeting in Beijing, Wednesday, December 21, 2022.
(Liu Weibing/Xinhua via AP)
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“The situation in the post-Soviet space, including the Ukraine crisis, was discussed,” the secretariat told Russian state media.
Medvedev, who was Russia’s former president and has been fervently aggressive when it comes to the war in Ukraine, said he and Xi had discussed strengthening their “strategic partnership” on industrial cooperation and the economy.
The unannounced meeting comes as Putin finds himself increasingly isolated from the Western world as the Kremlin braces for the implications of an oil price cap set by the G7 and the European Union.
Oil storage tanks sit at the RN-Tuapsinsky refinery, operated by Rosneft Oil Co., as tankers sail past in Tuapse, Russia, Monday, March 23, 2020.
(Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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Russia’s economy has not collapsed as dramatically as some Western officials believed it would after harsh international sanctions were imposed after Moscow invaded Ukraine.
It is unclear how a price cap on Russian oil, Moscow’s main source of income, will affect its economy in the coming months, though Putin signaled for perhaps the first time on Tuesday that all was not going according to plan in Ukraine.
China has faced international anger over its role in Putin’s 10-month war after it refused to condemn the illegal invasion and instead called for a diplomatic solution.
President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping pose during a meeting at the Diaoyutai State Guest House on February 4, 2022.
(Alexei DruzhininTASS via Getty Images)
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Beijing has also called on Western allies and NATO to end sanctions and has rejected its involvement in the war by helping Ukraine.
Moscow and Beijing have increasingly sought to strengthen their relations as both nations find themselves at odds with Western nations and regional allies surrounding Russia and China.
