Washington, March 22: In President Vladimir Putin and Russia, Chinese President Xi Jinping sees a “counterweight” to American and NATO influence on the continent and elsewhere around the world, the White House has said.
The statement by John Kirby, National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the White House, came as Putin accorded a red carpet welcome to his Chinese counterpart Xi in Moscow and held marathon talks spread over two days on a range of issues, including the raging war in Ukraine.
“I think you’ve seen over the years that these two countries are growing close together. I wouldn’t go so far to call it an alliance. … (it’s) a marriage of convenience, because that’s what I think it is. In President Putin and Russia, President Xi sees a counterweight to American influence and NATO influence, certainly on the continent and elsewhere around the world,” Kirby told reporters at a daily news conference here on Tuesday.
“In President Xi, President Putin sees a potential backer here. This is a man who doesn’t have a whole lot of friends on the international stage. They can count them on one hand mostly. He really needs and wants President Xi’s support for what he’s trying to do, because he’s blowing through inventory,” he said.
In recent weeks, China had appeared to position itself as a peace broker, releasing its position on a “political solution” to the conflict calling for a ceasefire and peace talks.
Xi’s visit to Moscow came days after China clinched a Saudi-Iran deal, regarded as a diplomatic coup, to end the hostilities between the two countries and restore diplomatic ties. The deal was regarded as a major achievement for China in expanding its global outreach and countering the US influence, especially in the Middle East.
“I don’t think you can reasonably look at China as impartial in any way. They haven’t condemned this in — this invasion. They haven’t stopped buying Russian oil and Russian energy,” Kirby said when asked whether the US sees China as having an impartial position on the Ukraine war.
Referring to the joint statement after the Putin-Xi meetings, Kirby noted that on Ukraine the two sides just said, the purposes and principles of the UN Charter must be observed and international law must be respected.
“Well, we agree. Following the UN Charter would mean that Russia should withdraw from all the territory inside Ukraine, the territory of another member state of the UN, a member that it has invaded,” he said.
“The UN Charter enshrines the principles of respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries, including Ukraine,” he said.
“They also said, the parties call for the cessation of all steps that contribute to escalation of tension and the prolongation of hostilities. Well, we agree,” Kirby said. (PTI)
