SAMARKAND, Uzbekistan (National Times) – Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday praised China\u2019s Xi Jinping for his “balanced” position on the conflict in Ukraine and scolded the United States for what the Kremlin chief said were provocations over Taiwan.<\/p>\n
Xi, on his first trip outside China since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, met Putin in the ancient Uzbek Silk Road city of Samarkand where they will attend a summit of The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).<\/p>\n
Speaking at their first face-to-face meeting since Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine began, Putin praised Xi for his position on the war in Ukraine but also said he understood Beijing had “questions and concern” over the conflict.<\/p>\n
China has refrained from condemning Russia\u2019s operation against Ukraine or calling it an “invasion” in line with the Kremlin, which casts the war as “a special military operation”.<\/p>\n
“We highly value the balanced position of our Chinese friends when it comes to the Ukraine crisis,” Putin said. “We understand your questions and concern about this. During today\u2019s meeting, we will of course explain our position.”
\nPutin explicitly backed China over Taiwan.<\/p>\n
China held blockade-style military drills around Taiwan after U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the island last month. Taiwan\u2019s government strongly rejects China\u2019s sovereignty claims.<\/p>\n
“We intend to firmly adhere to the principle of \u2018One China\u2019,” Putin said. “We condemn provocations by the United States and their satellites in the Taiwan Strait.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
SAMARKAND, Uzbekistan (National Times) – Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday praised China\u2019s Xi Jinping for his “balanced” position on the conflict in Ukraine and scolded the United States for what the Kremlin chief said were provocations over Taiwan. Xi, on his first trip outside China since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, met Putin […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43051,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n