The US State Department said the United States is concerned about the growing alliance between China and Russia, after Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed the “new horizons” in relations with Beijing and indicated that his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping would visit his country.
Talk about Xi’s visit to Russia came as Washington said that China is considering supplying weapons to Russia in its war in Ukraine, in a move that heralds a possible escalation of the war between Moscow and Kiev to become between Russia and China on the one hand and Ukraine and NATO led by the United States on the other.
Putin met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in the Kremlin on Wednesday, saying that bilateral trade between the two countries is better than expected and could soon reach 200 billion dollars annually, up from 185 billion dollars last year.
“We are waiting for the President of the People’s Republic of China to visit Russia, we have agreed on that,” Putin told Wang.
“Everything is progressing and developing. We have reached new heights,” he added.
US State Department spokesman Ned Price said Wang’s visit to Russia on the eve of the first anniversary of the war is further evidence of the alliance between Beijing and Moscow.
“We are concerned because these two countries share a vision. It is a vision … of an era when big countries can bully small countries, and borders can be redrawn by force,” he added.
“We have not yet seen the People’s Republic of China provide combat aid to Russia, but we don’t think they have taken it off the table either,” he added.
The Russian President confirms that cooperation with China is at its highest level
China “will not abandon its principle of adopting an objective and impartial stance and playing a constructive role in the political settlement of the crisis,” Wang, who also met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, was quoted by Tass news agency.
The Russian Foreign Ministry welcomed China’s vital role in efforts to resolve the conflict in Ukraine, and said it appreciated China’s “balanced approach.”
The ministry issued a separate statement saying that Lavrov and Wang did not discuss a previously announced Chinese peace plan.
Wang told Putin that the relations between the two countries have withstood the pressure of the volatile international situation, and those crises have provided some opportunities.
Wang said through an interpreter present at the meeting that China-Russia relations are not directed against any other country, but likewise “will not be subject to pressure from third parties,” an apparent reference to the United States.
“Together, we uphold multipolarity and democracy in international relations,” Wang told Putin.
