Putin praises BRI in meeting with senior Chinese diplomat

In the latest meeting with senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke highly of the Belt and Road Initiative and praised President Xi Jinping's comment on the world situation.

During their meeting in St. Petersburg on Wednesday of local time, Putin asked Wang Yi to convey sincere greetings to President Xi Jinping.

Putin noted that since Xi's visit to Russia this year, the two-way exchanges and collaboration have yielded fruits, and Moscow looks forward to strengthening planning and deepening pragmatic cooperation with China.

He told Wang that since the beginning of this year, Russia has overcome the impact of unilateral sanctions imposed by the US-led West, and the Russian economy has begun to resume growth, with all kinds of functions operating normally.

Russia highly acclaims and actively supports the BRI, and it opposes any distortions and smearing that target the initiative, he added.

Moscow is willing to strengthen the synergy between the Eurasian Economic Union and the BRI and to promote the region's integration process, he said.

Wang, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, conveyed President Xi's cordial greetings to Putin.

During Wang's visit to Russia this week, he met with Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, as well as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to talk about cooperation between the two countries in various fields.

Wang told Putin that China is willing to work with Russia to take the important consensus of the two heads of state as the fundamental guideline, enhance strategic mutual trust, deepen pragmatic cooperation, and further improve the public opinion that supports China-Russia friendship.

Speaking on the international situation, Putin said the development of the current international situation "fully echoes President Xi Jinping's strategic judgment", that is, the world is faced with changes unseen in a century.

With the joint efforts of parties including China and Russia, the BRICS grouping has successfully expanded its membership this year.

Putin said Russia is willing to maintain close coordination with the Chinese side under multilateral frameworks of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the BRICS mechanism; boycott unilateralism, hegemony and bloc-based confrontation; and safeguard international fairness and justice.

Wang said China and Russia, as permanent members of the UN Security Council, share important duty in advancing world development and progress.

"The two sides should strengthen multilateral strategic collaboration, safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the two countries, and make new efforts to make the international order more just and reasonable," he said.

Wang stressed that the development of the world's multipolarization is accelerating, economic globalization is moving forward against headwinds, unilateralism is unsustainable and hegemony is unpopular.

The two sides also exchanged views on the current international and regional situation.

Speaking of the Ukraine issue, Putin reiterated Russia's willingness to resolve the issue through dialogue and negotiation.