Is Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin an important figure for China? No question about it. The relationship between China and Putin has become much closer again since the war in Ukraine. Even if there has been no military aid from the People's Republic. China also tends to keep its distance on other political issues. Nevertheless, China is Russia's most important trading partner. New deals for the supply of raw materials will deepen this partnership in the future. The Table.Media editorial team has all the news on the topic. Relationship between China and Putin The relationship between China and Putin is based on the China-Russia and Putin-Xi relationship. China and Russia have a long history together, which was positive for historical reasons. There was a brief rift between China and Russia over the border conflict with India and the Taiwan issue. However, this was resolved from the '80s onwards. The Ukraine war was to bring China and Putin closer together for the time being. The partnership, as Xi describes it, is necessary in order to develop a multipolar world. At the same time, Putin is currently flirting with North Korea's ruler Kim. Cooperation between Putin and Kim is to be intensified. This has an impact on the relationship between China and Putin. Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping: a partnership Putin last visited China in February 2022 during the Olympic Games. At the meeting, the heads of state agreed on a major deal on gas supplies from Russia to China, among other things. At the same time, both spoke out against a NATO expansion and declared that they would "respect the sovereignty, security and interests of other countries." They demonstrated the close relationship between Russia and China. At the same time, Putin and Xi Jinping accused the USA of having supported the democracy movements in Ukraine and Hong Kong.Putin and Xi used the meeting to present themselves as a political counterweight to the West and made this clear in their closing speech. The meeting became particularly explosive after Russia launched its war of aggression in Ukraine. At the meeting, Xi is said to have asked his counterpart to wait with the invasion so as not to disrupt the Olympic Games.Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping met regularly before the coronavirus pandemic, and Xi also visited Moscow time and again. Most recently in June 2019. In addition to bilateral negotiations, the two presidents meet primarily on the fringes of the G20 summits. This also involves one-on-one talks between Putin and Xi. As of July 2022, the two have met a total of 38 times in the past ten years. Putin and economic relations with China China is Putin's most important trading partner. Conversely, however, Russia is not one of China's ten most important trading partners. Russia mainly supplies oil, gas, coal and agricultural products to the People's Republic. Trade relations have intensified since Putin's troops invaded Ukraine. While the total trade volume between the two countries amounted to USD 84 billion in 2017, it was already USD 140 billion in 2021. Xi and Putin announced during the Olympic Games that this figure is set to rise to USD 250 billion by 2024. In May 2022, Russia was already China's largest oil supplier with 8.52 million tons of crude oil, and Putin and Xi are generally offering support for economic development. However, there has not yet been any military assistance. For example, Putin is said to have asked Xi for military support for his war in Ukraine back in March, but did not receive it. China is also distancing itself from Putin on other geopolitical issues. The People's Republic neither recognizes the Crimean peninsula as Russian nor the Luhansk and Donetsk People's Republics as independent states. News on Vladimir Putin and China Putin News plays an important role from both an economic and geopolitical perspective. The relationship between Russia and China is of crucial importance for global development. After all, Putin and Xi themselves describe their countries as a political counterweight to the West. The relationship is being analyzed accordingly. All the news on this topic is available from the Table.Media editorial team.
NATO: Rutte praises spending increases as a “true shift in mindset”
After years of stagnation, European NATO member states and Canada have once again increased their defense spending by 20%. Rutte sees this as a “genuine shift in mindset” and praises Trump’s decisive role in pushing for higher targets.
By Stephan Israel