Russian President Vladimir Putin is in Beijing Friday for the Winter Olympics, where as expected he had a warm meeting, among a series of expected sit-downs, with Chinese President Xi Jinping, which was their first face-to-face in nearly two years. The two used the opportunity for a full court press on NATO, issuing a joint statement urging for the Western military alliance to halt its expansion.
The lengthy statement doesn't directly invoke Ukraine, but calls on NATO countries to "abandon the ideological approaches of the Cold War". It described, "The sides believe that certain States, military and political alliances and coalitions seek to obtain, directly or indirectly, unilateral military advantages to the detriment of the security of others, including by employing unfair competition practices, intensify geopolitical rivalry, fuel antagonism and confrontation, and seriously undermine the international security order and global strategic stability."
Lots to parse in the 3,500-word joint statement issued by Xi and Putin this morning, but clear both leaders have each other's backs on Ukraine and Taiwan.
— Zach Basu (@zacharybasu) February 4, 2022
"Friendship between the two states has no limits." https://t.co/m9IQ0r5h77
In this context, Beijing made clear its support for Moscow's ongoing efforts to engage the West in establishing legally binding security guarantees regarding NATO eastward expansion. Additionally, at a moment Washington has teased placing the 'nuclear option' on the table - cutting Russia off from SWIFT in the event of a Ukraine offensive - the Kremlin said "the presidents also discussed the need to broaden trade in national currencies because of unpredictability surrounding the use of the dollar," as Reuters notes.
Importantly, the statement included Russia taking a strong stance on key issues now stoking US-China...