Chinese President Xi Jinping offered support to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin amid deteriorating relations with the West over the conflict with Ukraine when they met in Beijing on February 4 for the opening of the Winter Olympic Games. The two premiers reaffirmed their support for each other’s foreign policy and agreed on wider security issues, strengthening a relationship that challenges the dominance of the US in the world.

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“Friendship between the two states has no limits,” they said in a 5,300-word joint statement released by the Kremlin.

Both countries expressed their concern over the AUKUS trilateral security alliance between the US, UK and Australia, opposed the expansion of NATO in eastern Europe and denounced the formation of security blocs in the Asia-Pacific region.

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Leaders from five ex-Soviet Central Asian countries, which are closely linked to China and Russia, are also attending the event in Beijing. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan will also be present at the grand opening ceremony on February 4.

India has opted out of the opening ceremony, expressing regret over the fact that China chose to field a commander of the People Liberation Army (PLA), who was involved in the Galwan Valley clash, as the torchbearer for the Beijing Winter Olympics.

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Here are some of the key points on the meet:

President Xi met a foreign counterpart in person for the first time in nearly two years. It is also the 38th meeting of the two leaders since 2013.

The meeting comes at a time when tensions have been escalating between the West and Russia over Ukraine. Russia has deployed more than 100,000 troops near Ukraine’s borders, raising fears of an invasion. To deter an incursion, the West has sent military supplies and troops to the region. The US has warned of imposing sanctions on Kremlin in case of an attack.

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Russia invaded Georgia the last time China had hosted the Olympics in 2008. At the time, Putin was in Beijing to attend the opening ceremony.

In the joint statement, China has accused the US of encouraging independence in Taiwan and stoking protests in Hong Kong.

Both nations pledged to counter the intrusion of outside forces in their internal matters under any pretext and thwart “colour revolutions.”

Russia and China have called on the West to abandon its “Cold War approaches.” “The sides oppose further enlargement of NATO and call on the North Atlantic Alliance to abandon its ideologised Cold War approaches,” the statement said.

Putin is the highest-profile guest at the Winter Olympics event. The US and Britain refused to send officials to the event to protest against China’s human rights abuses and treatment of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities.

In an apparent reference to a US-led diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics, Putin has criticised countries for trying to politicise sports “to the benefit of their ambitions.”

Earlier, both the countries engaged in a series of joint war games, such as patrols by long-range bombers and naval drills over the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea.

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Earlier, Putin had said that Russia was sharing highly-sensitive military technologies with China to bolster its defence capability.

(Edited by : Shoma Bhattacharjee)

First Published:Feb 4, 2022 7:15 PM IST