The Sino-Russian alliance is observably stronger than ever. Contra the incessant mainstream media nonsense about both nations, this is clearly not a conversation between two leaders who are desperate or believe that their geostrategic positions have weakened in the last year:
President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, President Xi Jinping, my dear friend. I am delighted to see and greet you.
We are creating a very good tradition – to hold a videoconference at the end of the year to review our work and map out plans to build up Russia-China relations and strategic partnership and to exchange views on the most topical international issues.
But first of all, I would like to congratulate you and all our Chinese friends on the successful completion of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and you personally on being re-elected as General Secretary of the of CPC Central Committee. Your guiding role and the CPC’s leadership are essential for the sustainable socioeconomic development of the country and the strengthening of its positions on the global stage. I wholeheartedly wish every success to you and the friendly people of China.
In the context of growing geopolitical tensions, the importance of the Russian-Chinese strategic partnership as a stability factor is growing. Our relations have passed all the tests, demonstrating their maturity and stability, and they continue to grow dynamically. As both of us pointed out, our current relations are enjoying the best period in their history and can be regarded as a model of cooperation between major powers in the 21st century…
President of China Xi Jinping: President Putin, my dear friend.
I am delighted to see you again.
A videoconference with you ahead of New Year’s Eve has become our good tradition. This year, we had two in-person meetings and spoke over the phone multiple times. We maintain close strategic contacts. After the success of the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, you immediately sent me warm greetings. It was greatly appreciated.
Under our joint leadership, the overarching Russia-China partnership and strategic cooperation demonstrates maturity and ability to withstand challenges in this new age… In the face of the challenging and largely ambivalent international situation, we are ready to build up strategic cooperation with Russia, providing each other with development opportunities and remaining global partners for the benefit of our countries and in the interests of stability in the entire world.
The full transcript isn’t available at the link yet, so if anything interesting pops up in the sections added later, I’ll note them here.