The leaders of Russia and China on Monday announced the extension of the friendship agreement signed 20 years ago, praising the close relations between the two countries.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping communicated via video call and their conversation was televised.
Over the past few years, Russia and China, both of which have strained relations with the United States, have been cooperating intensively and developing economic and military ties and cooperation in the energy sector. Moscow and Beijing have supported each other on many issues, especially in the face of criticism from the West.
Putin said the friendship agreement has raised relations between the two countries to unprecedented heights, and announced that in February 2022, the agreement will be extended for another five years.
Putin signed the agreement in 2001 with then-Chinese President Jiang Zemin. The Kremlin host said today that the agreement is an important international legal instrument and that Russian-Chinese cooperation has a stabilizing role in global politics.
“As the world enters a period of unrest and change and humanity faces various risks, close cooperation between China and Russia is giving positive energy to the international community,” said Xi.
He noted that Sino-Russian relations serve as a model for a new type of international relations.
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