Putin says he expects to meet Xi at next month's APEC summit in China; Kremlin says trilateral US-China-Russia talks are being prepared; Li Qiang cites need to strengthen strategic communication amid 'unilateralism and hegemonism'

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a joint press conference with Chinese President Xi Jinping (not pictured) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing in May. [Getty Images]
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a joint press conference with Chinese President Xi Jinping (not pictured) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing in May. [Getty Images]

Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Wednesday (local time), Russia's state-run TASS news agency and China's Xinhua news agency reported.

According to TASS, Putin received a Chinese delegation led by Li in St. Petersburg and said he expected to meet his "friend" Xi Jinping during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in China next month.

Russia has consistently raised the possibility of a trilateral summit among the United States, China and Russia on the sidelines of the APEC meeting in Shenzhen. The Kremlin said Wednesday it was preparing for such three-way talks during the summit.

However, Xinhua made no mention of Putin's remarks about a meeting with Xi at APEC, nor of the Kremlin's references to a US-China-Russia trilateral summit.

Putin said the two countries' relations were "developing successfully and dynamically" and that bilateral ties were "not subject to the situation and not aimed at anyone," according to TASS. He added that the two sides were cooperating in energy, IT, space and peaceful uses of nuclear energy, saying, "Trade and economic cooperation is developing, and we will continue to expand the scale of cooperation in all key areas."

Li said that "maintaining close cooperation between China and Russia amid the continuously complex and changing international situation is a precious stabilizing force for a turbulent world," according to Xinhua. He said China was willing to strengthen strategic communication with Russia, deepen political mutual trust and expand all-around mutually beneficial cooperation.

Li also said that "unilateralism and hegemonism are rampant in today's world," adding that China was prepared to strengthen communication and cooperation with Russia on major issues, deepen coordination within multilateral platforms such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and BRICS, and rally more Global South nations — a term broadly referring to emerging and developing countries, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere — to defend common interests, fairness and justice.

Xinhua said Putin expressed willingness to deepen cooperation with China in energy, agriculture, space, civilian nuclear power, IT, AI, transportation and logistics, while Li said China was ready to make good use of the two countries' economic complementarity and strengthen practical cooperation in energy, trade, investment and transportation.

According to TASS, the Chinese delegation included Li, State Councillor Wu Zhenglong, National Development and Reform Commission Chairman Zheng Shanjie, Education Minister Huai Jinpeng, Commerce Minister Wang Wentao, State Council Research Office Director Shen Danyang and Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu.


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