Chinese President Xi Jinping has pledged to promote ‘world peace’ in a New Year message to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. “No matter how the international situation changes, China will remain resolute in further deepening reform… and promoting world peace and development,” Xi said, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
Since Putin’s all-out invasion of neighboring Ukraine in February 2022, China has sought to portray itself as a neutral party, in contrast to the United States and other Western nations. But China has become Russia’s closest political and economic partner, prompting some NATO members to brand Beijing an “enabler” of the war, a war Beijing has never condemned.
According to CCTV, Xi told Putin, “Faced with rapid developmental changes and turbulent international situations unseen in a century, China and Russia have consistently walked hand in hand on the right path of non-alignment, non-confrontation and non-targeting of any third party.” The two presidents have a strong personal relationship. Xi has called his Russian counterpart his “best friend,” while Putin considers him his “reliable partner.”
Their relationship has remained stable despite a decade of rising tensions with Western countries, as demonstrated by Russia’s war in Ukraine. Xi told Putin that 2024 marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Russia, “representing a new important milestone in the relationship between the two countries,” according to CCTV.
“After three and a half decades of ups and downs, China-Russia relations have become more mature and stable,” Xi said.
Kim’s message of North Korea to Putin
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un hailed Vladimir Putin as his “dearest friend” in a New Year’s letter to the Russian leader praising close bilateral ties, state media said on Tuesday. The two countries have deepened political, military and cultural ties since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, with Putin and Kim repeatedly professing their personal closeness.
They signed a landmark defence pact during Putin’s visit to the isolated North in June. The pact obligates them to provide immediate military assistance if the other is invaded and came into effect this month. Kim’s latest message described Putin as his “dearest friend and comrade”, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.
The North’s leader sent “warm greetings of best wishes to the fraternal Russian people and all the service personnel of the brave Russian army on behalf of himself, the Korean people and all the service personnel of the armed forces of the DPRK”, it said, using an acronym of the North’s formal name. Kim also expressed “his willingness to design and push ahead with new projects” after their “meaningful journey in 2024”.
In a possible reference to the war in Ukraine, Kim also hoped that 2025 would be the year “when the Russian army and people defeat neo-Nazism and achieve a great victory”. The United States and South Korea have accused the nuclear-armed North of sending more than 10,000 soldiers to help Russia fight Ukraine.
Experts say Kim is keen to acquire advanced technology from Moscow and battle experience for his troops in return. North Korean state media said on Friday Putin had sent a similar message to Kim praising bilateral ties.
