Beijing, Oct 18 (EFE).- Russian President Vladimir Putin praised Wednesday in Beijing the Chinese initiative of the New Silk Roads, and highlighted the importance of “coordinating with China” on issues such as logistics and connectivity.
“We have repeated that Russia and China share an aspiration, which is a beneficial cooperation that respects the cultural diversity and development models of each country. We are happy with the success of this initiative, capable of connecting and integrating various regions of the world,” Putin said at the opening of the forum.
Putin, who will hold a bilateral meeting Wednesday with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, spoke of “the importance of coordinating with China” on issues such as logistics and connectivity, and said he hoped the routes will bring “collective solutions” to the “relevant problems” facing the world.
“When we start something big, we hope it succeeds. Considering the global scale of the project started by Xi 10 years ago, it was to be expected that something would not go well. But China managed to do it, and we are happy to see that the initiative is being successful,” Putin said about the initiative. With it, China seeks to seduce the Global South with multimillion-dollar investment projects that have also received criticism for the risk of debt they entail.
Putin added that it is “a global plan” that “respects cultural diversity and each development model” that is accelerating “the integration of several regions, such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations with the Economic Union Eurasian Union.”
“We hope that the routes really provide collective and effective solutions to relevant international problems,” he said.
The Russian president emphasized connectivity, which is “important for everyone, to create new logistics nodes and have corridors that offer diversification of supplies,” he said.
Putin arrived in the Chinese capital Tuesday despite the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court against him for the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children, and is expected to meet with Xi Wednesday.
He is due to discuss the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians – a war for which the West has primarily blamed Hamas – and the Russian offensive in Ukraine, on which China has maintained an ambiguous position.
Just a week before that conflict broke out, Xi and Putin committed themselves in Beijing to a relationship of friendship “without limits” and, since then, they said their ties “do not threaten any country” and that, in reality, “advance the multipolarization of the world.”
Beijing has sought to counter criticism that it supports Russia and presented a 12-point peace plan that was met with skepticism by Ukraine and its Western allies, while continuing to deepen its exchanges with Moscow, including the use of the yuan as an alternative to trading in dollars.
On the sidelines, Xi and Putin will discuss bilateral trade, economic cooperation and the global and regional situation: not in vain, the Russian leader arrives in China with a large delegation of senior officials, including two vice premiers, as well as the holders of Foreign Affairs, Economic Development, Transportation, Finance and others. EFE
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