Putin and Xi deepen their strategic partnership as the war in Ukraine continues.
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Russian president Vladimir Putin has called on Moscow and Beijing to deepen their strategic ties, as he spoke with “dear friend” Chinese president Xi Jinping on a video call.
Putin signaled Mr. XI when he proposed plans to expand the “full partnership and strategic cooperation” between Russia and China, strengthening a geopolitical alliance that seeks to weaken “Western hegemony. “
In a video released through the Kremlin of the conversation, Putin said: “I agree with you that cooperation between Moscow and Beijing is based on a broad community of national interests and a convergence of perspectives on relations between the wonderful powers. .
“We build our bonds on the foundation of friendship, mutual acceptance as true and mutual support, equality and benefit. These ties are self-sufficient, independent of internal political points and the existing global situation. “
Moscow and Beijing’s foreign policies play an important stabilising role in international affairs, Putin added.
The two autocrats have long sought to present the West as being in decline, as China continues to serve as America’s greatest economic threat and Putin’s war of attrition against Western-supplied Ukrainian forces grinds on.
With the war approaching the three-year mark and a new era beginning as Donald Trump enters the White House, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky urged European leaders to establish themselves as strong global players.
“All European countries will have to be willing to spend as much as necessary on security, not just what they are used to during years of neglect,” he told world leaders at the World Economic Forum’s World Economic Forum. Davos. ” If 5% of GDP is needed to cover defence, as long as it is, 5%, that is the case”.
Defense expenses are not offset to the detriment of physical care or pensions, he added, saying it was “not alone. “
In the speech, for which he received rapturous applause, Mr Zelensky also warned that Putin will return to Europe with an army 10 times the size of that which invaded Ukraine in 2022, if a future diplomatic solution does not have “strong security guarantees”.
Kiev has greater regularity in its long-range movements in Russia, as it seeks the power infrastructure and army facilities.
Ukrainian forces attacked a Russian aircraft factory in the Smolensk region and an oil depot in the Voronezh region on Tuesday, the Ukrainian military said.
The Liskinskayayayaya oil deposit of Voronezh hit for a moment last week, after a Ukrainian strike on January 16 hit the fuel and lubricant tanks and began the fireplace in the installation led through Rosneft, said the general staff of the general personnel of kyiv.
The Russian Defense Ministry said it intercepted 55 Ukrainian drones in a large-scale strike overnight on Tuesday, 10 drones in the Smolensk region and six over the Voronezh region. Ukraine says it shot down 72 of 131 drones fired across Russia overnight.
Meanwhile, a senior German official warned Monday that Russia would rearm more temporarily than previously thought and was possibly preparing to attack a NATO country.
“The Russian Armed Forces must not only compensate for the enormous human and material losses, but also manage to rearm,” said German Major General Christian Freuding.
Although Putin is not necessarily planning an attack on any Nato state, Gen Freuding said he is “clearly creating the conditions for it”. The head of Germany’s military task force in Ukraine noted that production and supplies are growing in Russia, with Iran and North Korea helping to replenish its heavily-used stockpile of missiles, drones and tanks.
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