- Biden said the U.S. would not accept Russia’s demand, according to CNBC. Ahead of Wednesday’s call, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said discussions between “allies” Russia and China are necessary amid the U.S. and NATO’s “very aggressive” rhetoric, reported Reuters.
- China, on the other hand, is facing Western backlash for its aggressions in the South China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and its own Xinjiang region, among other areas of concern. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said the goal of Xi and Putin’s meeting was to “further enhance the high-level mutual trust between the two sides,” according to Al Jazeera.
- Xi said that although China and Russia are not officially allied, “Their effectiveness even exceeds this level,” Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov told Bloomberg. “Such a figurative expression very accurately reflects the essence of what is happening now in relations between our two countries.”
- Xi also told Putin of his concerns about U.S. activities in the Asia-Pacific region, including the formation of AUKUS, the trilateral security pact between the U.S., the U.K. and Australia. The Chinese president reportedly lauded his counterpart for firmly supporting Beijing in “defending its core interests and opposed attempts to divide China and Russia.”
- For his part, Putin described Russia and China’s relationship as “a true model of interstate cooperation for the 21st century.” He also vowed to attend the opening of the Winter Olympics in Beijing, which the U.S. and other Western leaders have boycotted, according to The Guardian.