Putin and Xi form alliance to defeat sanctions over Ukraine

China will formally pledge its support for Russia in its dispute with the West as Presidents Putin and Xi meet face-to-face, the Kremlin says.

Vladimir Putin’s (left) meeting with Xi Jinping (right) at the opening of the Beijing Winter Olympics will be the first time that the Chinese leader has met another head of state in person since the start of the pandemic. Picture: Getty Images

President Vladimir Putin and President Xi Jinping will sign a ­series of deals in Beijing on Friday as well as discuss a new gas pipeline to China that could provide Russia with an economic lifeline in the event of Western sanctions.

China will formally pledge its support for Russia in its dispute with the West over NATO ­expansion, the Kremlin announced late on Wednesday.

Moscow also said it was looking to move ahead with the construction of a Power of Siberia 2 pipeline that would run to China through Mongolia.

Gazprom, the state-backed energy company, said the pipeline would deliver 50 billion cubic metres of gas a year, doubling Russia’s annual exports to China.

If it goes ahead, the pipeline could provide Russia with an ­alternative to its contentious Nord Stream 2 gas pipe to Germany, which could be under threat if Russia invades Ukraine. However, the new project has been under discussion for a long time and would take years to complete.

An existing Russian pipeline, the Power of Siberia, began supplying gas to China in 2019. Its launch was held up for about a decade because of difficulties in reaching an agreement on supply terms.

Yury Ushakov, Mr Putin’s top foreign policy adviser, said China and Russia would sign a number of agreements on gas during the Russian leader’s visit. He did not specify what agreements would be finalised, but said they would “mark another step in the development of gas co-operation ­between Beijing and Moscow”.

Mr Putin’s meeting with Mr Xi at the opening of the Beijing Winter Olympics will be the first time the Chinese leader has met another head of state in person since the start of the pandemic. It is a rare foreign trip for Mr Putin, who skipped last year’s G20 and COP26 meetings.

“A joint statement on international relations entering a new era has been prepared for the talks,” Mr Ushakov said. “Beijing supports Russia’s demands for ­security guarantees (from NATO).”

Mr Ushakov also said China and Russia were jointly calling for the creation of “efficient mechanisms of ensuring security in ­Europe”.

Russia and China will seek ways to protect their economies from American sanctions, the Kremlin said. The two countries are expected to conclude about 15 deals.

Russia wants NATO to withdraw Western forces from former Soviet and Warsaw Pact countries, halt its eastwards expansion and vow that neighbouring Ukraine will never be allowed to join the military alliance.

It has deployed about 130,000 troops to within striking distance of Ukraine, but denied it is planning an invasion. Video released by the Russian Defence Ministry on Wednesday showed tanks streaming through fields in Belarus and combat aircraft flying above as both countries prepared for joint military drills for 10 days from next Thursday.

Some analysts have suggested that if Moscow is planning an attack on Ukraine it will wait until the end of the Olympics on February 20 so as not to overshadow the Beijing Games. China reacted angrily last month to a Bloomberg report that said Mr Xi had asked Mr Putin not to invade during the Olympics. Russia invaded neighbouring Georgia during the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

China and Russia held joint naval drills in the Sea of Japan last year, and have increased collaboration on nuclear and space technology.

Officials in both countries claim to suspect the US of seeking to encourage uprisings against their respective regimes. Russia and China said recent violent protests in Kazakhstan, a nation rich in oil, were orchestrated by Washington.

Last month, Mr Xi told Mr Putin in a phone call that “certain international forces are arbitrarily interfering in the internal affairs of China and Russia, under the guise of democracy and human rights”.

Like most countries, however, China has not recognised Russian rule in Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula the Kremlin annexed from Ukraine in 2014. Economic ties have not suffered as a result: China said last month annual trade with Russia had more than doubled to nearly $US147bn over the past eight years. Mr Putin will be accompanied to Beijing by a delegation including Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Energy Minister Nikolai Shulginov and Igor Sechin, the head of Rosneft, the state-run oil company.

The Times