President Xi meets Russian Putin via video link

Beijing, The Gulf Observer: Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday reiterated the country’s “objective and just” stance on Ukraine crisis in talk with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin via video link, urging Moscow to continue peace talks.

The road to peace talks won’t be smooth sailing, yet with continuous efforts, the prospects of peace are there, Xi stressed, expressing appreciation that the Russian side has never refused to solve the conflict through diplomatic talks.

The Chinese president also vowed to work alongside the international community in playing a constructive role in solving the crisis peacefully.

Xi: China, Russia should strengthen strategic coordination

During the video conversation, Xi also called on further cooperation between the two countries. Both sides should further make good use of existing mechanisms to push for progress in cooperation on economy, trade, energy, finance and agriculture, Xi told Putin.

China and Russia should strengthen strategic coordination to bring more benefits to the two peoples and inject more stability into the world, Xi said.

China is ready to resume normal cross-border travel with Russia and other countries in an orderly manner, Xi said.

China is ready to work with Russia and all progressive forces in the world that stand against hegemonism and power politics to jointly oppose unilateralism, protectionism and bullying, and to firmly safeguard sovereignty, security, and development interests of the two countries, as well as international equity and justice, Xi said.

Putin said that in the current complex and severe international situation, Russia-China relations have maintained a sound momentum of development, witnessing steady cooperation progress in various fields, including energy, agriculture, transportation, infrastructure, sports and people-to-people exchanges.

The resilience, maturity and stability of Russia-China ties have been enhanced further, Putin said, adding that the significance of strategic coordination between the two countries has become more prominent and that the bilateral relations can serve as a model for relations between major countries in the 21st century.

Russia is willing to continue close coordination with China on multilateral platforms including the United Nations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, BRICS and the Group of 20, Putin said.

The two leaders also exchanged New Year greetings.