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Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin is the highest-ranking Russian official to visit Beijing since the outbreak of war in Ukraine.
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin has said that “sensational pressure” from the West took relations between Russia and China to an “unprecedented high” as officials from the two countries signed a series of trade and sports cooperation agreements.
Mishustin made the comments Wednesday during talks with Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Beijing.
The prime minister, who also met with Chinese President Xi Jinping, is the highest-ranking Russian official to visit Beijing since Moscow invaded Ukraine last year.
His visit comes after Russia and China reacted angrily to the Group of Seven Nations’ weekend statements singled out both countries on a range of issues, including Ukraine.
As the war in Ukraine enters its second year and Russia increasingly feels the weight of Western sanctions, Moscow is leaning on China for support.
According to Chinese customs data, trade between the countries hit a record $190 billion last year.
“Today, relations between Russia and China are at an unprecedented level,” Mishustin told Li after a grand welcome to Beijing.
“They are characterized by mutual respect for each other’s interests, the desire to jointly respond to challenges, accompanied by increased turbulence in the international arena and the pattern of sensational pressure from the collective West,” he said.
Li, in turn, praised the “comprehensive strategic cooperation partnership between China and Russia in the new era”.
He noted that bilateral trade had already reached $70 billion so far this year, a figure that marks a year-over-year increase of more than 40 percent.
“The scale of investment between the two countries is also constantly improving,” added Li. “Strategic large-scale projects are progressing steadily.”
Following the talks, ministers from the two countries signed a series of agreements on cooperation in services trade and sports, as well as patents and Russian millet exports to China.
Mishustin is accompanied by top officials, including Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, who looks after energy policy.
Russia’s largest customer
China became Russia’s largest energy customer last year as Moscow’s gas exports otherwise plummeted amid a spate of Western sanctions over the war in Ukraine.
According to Russian state media, Novak told the forum in Shanghai on Tuesday that Russia’s energy supply to China would increase by 40 percent year-on-year by 2023.
Analysts say China has the upper hand in relations with Russia, and its influence is growing as the world turns against Moscow over its war in Ukraine.
China says it is a neutral party between Russia and Ukraine and wants to help end the conflict.
It has rejected Western criticism of relations with Russia and insisted that their ties do not violate international standards.
Earlier this month, Beijing’s special envoy for Eurasian affairs met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other government officials for talks in Kiev. Li Hui’s visit followed a phone call between Zelenskyy and Xi last month that the Ukrainian leader described as “long and meaningful”. The phone call was the first known contact between the two since the start of the Russian invasion.
Li Hui, Beijing’s special envoy, will visit Russia on Friday, the Russian news agency TASS reported.
China released a peace plan for Ukraine in February, but Kiev’s allies largely rejected it, insisting that Putin withdraw his troops.
Zelensky’s own 10-point peace plan includes a tribunal to prosecute war crimes committed by Russia.
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