Beijing:
Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory message to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, saying his re-election “fully reflects the support of the Russian people,” state media in Beijing reported.
Official election data showed on Monday that 99% of polling stations had submitted results, with Putin receiving 87.33% of the vote, Russian state news agency RIA reported.
Putin enjoyed a record victory in a presidential election in which he faced no real competition, with some Western countries criticizing the poll as neither free nor fair.
“Your re-election fully demonstrates the Russian people’s support for you,” Xi told Putin, state broadcaster CCTV reported.
Xi Jinping said that in recent years, the Russian people have united as one, overcome challenges, and made steady progress on the road to national development and revitalization.
I believe that under your leadership, Russia will be able to achieve greater achievements in national development and construction.
China attaches great importance to the development of Sino-Russian relations and is willing to maintain close communication with Russia to promote the sustained, healthy, stable and in-depth development of bilateral relations.
“Build relationships
Putin on Monday heaped praise on key ally Beijing, saying he was “sure that in the coming years we will only strengthen and develop our relations and achieve mutual success for the benefit of the Chinese and Russian peoples,” Russian state news agency TASS reported. .
Putin reportedly said: “The most important thing is the unity of national interests. This creates a very good tone for solving common problems in the field of international relations.”
“China’s economic structure is transforming into an innovative one,” he said. “We face exactly the same task in Russia.”
Once socialist allies, China and Russia experienced acrimonious relations in the latter decades of the last century but grew closer as their burgeoning friendship became a bulwark against the U.S.-led West.
The two countries’ close ties have deepened even as Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine has roiled Moscow’s ties with the West and China has pointedly refused to condemn its ally’s attacks on its European neighbors.
Western countries believe that China’s ambiguity provides much-needed political and diplomatic cover for Putin to launch an unprovoked war of aggression against Kiev.
“Dear Friend” Putin
Both leaders have previously praised the depth of their personal friendship, and both have reshaped their respective countries in their own image during their long years in power.
Last October, Xi Jinping welcomed his “dear friend” Putin to Beijing, where the Russian president was the guest of honor at a multilateral summit.
The Chinese leader said that “political mutual trust between the two countries continues to deepen” and praised the two countries’ “close and effective strategic coordination.”
Xi Jinping noted that he had met Putin 42 times in the past decade, saying they had “developed a good working relationship and a profound friendship.”
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
