But don’t expect China to offer much more than supportive words to its northern neighbor should the United States and Europe follow through with threats to slam Russia’s economy if Moscow launches an invasion of Ukraine. Beijing’s diplomatic and military ties with Moscow may be strong, but its economic allegiances are a lot more complex.
Russian President Vladimir Putin met his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Friday as the Beijing Winter Olympics kicked off. The Kremlin described the meeting as warm and constructive, and the leaders agreed to deepen their cooperation, according to an account published by Chinese state news agency Xinhua. Russian oil giant Rosneft said it had agreed to boost supplies to China over the next decade.
“Working together, we can achieve stable economic growth … and stand together against today’s risks and challenges,” Putin wrote in an op-ed published Thursday by Xinhua.
Those risks may be formidable…
