President Xi SNUBS dinner with Putin ‘as a Covid precaution’ after Vladimir acknowledges ‘China’s concerns’ about his war in Ukraine in rare sign of friction
- Putin and Xi are in Uzbekistan for a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit
- They spoke Thursday about strengthening their strategic ties in defiance of West
- Putin was very clear in his support for China’s interests and claim to Taiwan
- But Xi was more measured, refusing to condone the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- The Chinese leader then decided not to attend a dinner with Putin and other world leaders, citing Covid precautions
Chinese leader Xi Jinping refused to attend dinner with Russian President Vladimir Putin and 11 others heads of states at a regional security summit yesterday.
Xi, who is making his first foreign trip since the beginning of the pandemic, is attending a meeting this week of the China- and Russia-led Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in the Uzbek city of Samarkand.
However, he was absent from group photographs published late on Thursday when the leaders, including Putin and Turkey’s Tayyip Erdogan, went for dinner.
An Uzbek government source later confirmed Xi’s absence and said the Chinese delegation cited its Covid-19 policy as the reason.
The snub comes just hours after Putin and Xi met to hail their strategic ties in defiance of the West amid Russia’s widely condemned war in Ukraine and China’s claim on self-governed Taiwan.
While Russia has fully backed China’s claim to Taiwan, Xi has expressed hesitancy over Putin’s military exploits across the border, something which Putin acknowledged during talks yesterday.
‘We highly value the balanced position of our Chinese friends when it comes to the Ukraine crisis,’ Putin told Xi.
‘We understand your questions and concern about this. During today’s meeting, we will of course explain our position.’
Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, speaks to Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, Friday, Sept. 16, 2022
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) speaks to fellow leaders including Russian President Vladimir Putin(2-R) and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko (R) at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Chinese President Xi is nowhere to be found
It was the first in-person meeting between the two leaders since Putin saw Xi in early February for the Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, days before the Russian leader launched the military offensive in Ukraine
Earlier in the day, the eastern leaders were pictured sitting across from each other at two long rounded tables flanked by aides as they discussed their nations’ partnership in the face of Western sanctions.
For Putin, it was a chance to show Russia has not been fully isolated and he quickly set about denouncing Western attitudes, particularly those of the United States which has been leading efforts to support Ukraine and impose sanctions on Russia.
‘Attempts to create a unipolar world have recently acquired an absolutely ugly form and are completely unacceptable.
‘We highly appreciate the balanced position of our Chinese friends in connection with the Ukrainian crisis,’ Putin told Xi, while reiterating Moscow’s backing for China on Taiwan.
‘We adhere to the principle of one China. We condemn the provocation of the US and their satellites in the Taiwan Strait,’ Putin said, after a US Senate committee on Wednesday took the first step towards Washington directly providing billions of dollars in military aid to Taiwan.
Xi meanwhile took a slightly more measured tack, confirming his nation’s willingness to strengthen ties while avoiding an overt proclamation of support for Putin’s war in Ukraine.
‘China is willing to make efforts with Russia to assume the role of great powers, and play a guiding role to inject stability and positive energy into a world rocked by social turmoil,’ Xi told Putin at the talks.
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV also quoted Xi as saying China was willing to work with Russia to support ‘each other’s core interests’.
Beijing’s support is widely seen as essential for Moscow, which needs markets for its energy exports and sources to import high tech goods as it faces sanctions imposed by the West.
The last time the two men met they signed a ‘no limits’ friendship agreement between their two countries.
Three weeks later, Russia invaded Ukraine.
Putin (L) and Xi (R) met yesterday to hail their strategic ties in defiance of the West amid Russia’s widely condemned war in Ukraine and China’s increasingly threatening stance on self-governed Taiwan
Members and other leaders attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, Friday, Sept. 16, 2022
Ian Bremmer, political science professor at Columbia University, said the Kremlin chief’s recognition of Chinese hesitancy to support the war in Ukraine was ‘the first public sign of Putin recognising pressure to back down’.
‘Russia has become a pariah to the G7 because of their invasion. China wants no part of that,’ he wrote on Twitter, referring to the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations.
White House spokesman John Kirby meanwhile said China should reject Russia’s invasion.
‘The whole world should be lined up against what Mr Putin is doing,’ Kirby told CNN.
‘This is not the time for any kind of business as usual with Mr Putin.’
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov later told reporters that the talks behind closed doors with China had been excellent.
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