Xi, Putin reach many new, important common understandings: Chinese Foreign Ministry

Beijing: Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin had in-depth exchanges of views on China-Russia relations and major international and regional issues and reached many new and important common understandings during Xi’s visit to Russia, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said here Friday.

Lin Jian told a daily news briefing that the two heads of state signed the Joint Statement Between the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation on Further Deepening the China-Russia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership of Coordination for the New Era on the Occasion of the 80th Anniversary of the Victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Soviet Union’s Great Patriotic War and the Founding of the United Nations. They witnessed the exchange of over 20 bilateral cooperation documents, injecting new impetus into the development of China-Russia relations.

Noting that the two sides are good neighbours that cannot be moved away, true friends who share weal and woe, and good partners for mutual success, Xi said that the relationship between China and Russia is characterised by a distinct historical logic, strong endogenous driving force and rich civilizations, and does not target any third party and it is not subject to restrictions from any third party, according to Lin.

Xi also noted that the two sides have successfully found the right way for the two neighboring major countries to get along with each other and forged a spirit of strategic coordination for a new era with permanent good-neighborly friendship, comprehensive strategic coordination and mutually beneficial cooperation at its core.

The two countries need to nourish everlasting friendship and deepen political mutual trust, and increase strategic coordination, as well as pursue mutual benefit, and continue to deepen practical cooperation in various fields, Xi said.

The two countries need to uphold fairness and justice, and firmly defend the international system with the UN at its core and the international order based on international law, Xi said, adding that the two countries need to enhance solidarity, safeguard true multilateralism and steer global governance towards the right direction.

President Xi stressed that this year marks the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Soviet Union’s Great Patriotic War, and the World Anti-Fascist War. Facing unilateralism, power politics and bullying acts in the world, China and Russia, as two major countries and permanent members of the UN Security Council, will shoulder responsibilities to uphold the correct historical perspective on WWII, safeguard the authority and standing of the UN, firmly defend the victorious outcome of WWII, resolutely defend the rights and interests of China, Russia and the vast number of developing countries, and jointly promote an equal and orderly multipolar world and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization.

During the visit, China and Russia issued a joint statement on global strategic stability, reiterating that the two sides will endeavor to practice true multilateralism and support the central role of the UN and relevant multilateral mechanism, Lin said.

The spokesperson said that the two sides stressed that nuclear-weapon states, which bear special responsibility for international security and global strategic stability, should reject Cold War mentality and zero-sum games, address concerns via dialogue and consultations on an equal footing, and build confidence to avoid dangerous miscalculations, Xinhua news agency reported. This demonstrates China and Russia’s sense of responsibility as major countries for upholding and enhancing global strategic stability.

The two sides also issued a joint declaration on further strengthening cooperation to uphold the authority of international law, reiterating the two countries’ full commitment to the principles of international law including the United Nations Charter and the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence and opposition to the abuse of unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction, Lin said.

He said the declaration emphasized that states have the right to conduct normal economic and trade cooperation, elaborated on the two sides’ shared stance on important matters concerning international law and sent a strong message of resolutely upholding the international order based on international law to the international community.

IANS