Russia and China have recently moved closer together.
(Photo: AP)
Kyiv, Beijing Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping want to strengthen bilateral cooperation. In opening statements at a video conference that were broadcast publicly on Friday, Putin spoke of “geopolitical tensions” and Xi of a “difficult and far from clear international situation”.
They did not mention Ukraine in the public part of their conference. According to Ukrainian information, Russia again flew drone attacks on the country during its war in Ukraine at night.
Putin said he wants to expand military cooperation with China. The strategic partnership between Russia and China “as a stabilizing factor” is becoming more important, he said. Putin said he expects Xi to visit Moscow in the spring. This visit will “demonstrate to the world the closeness of Russian-Chinese relations”.
Xi said China is willing to expand strategic cooperation with Russia. “In the interest of stability worldwide” they want to be a global partner. In addition, the Chinese head of state criticized the western states. “Sanctions and interference are doomed to fail,” he declared.
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Russians keep firing rockets at Ukraine
Since the start of the Russian war against Ukraine, China has drawn closer to Russia. Beijing has refused to condemn the aggressive war. The Chinese government blamed the US and NATO for the war. In addition, China had previously denounced Western sanctions against Russia. Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported Friday that Xi had pledged to Putin that China would maintain its “objective and fair” stance.
>> Read here: How China and Russia want to make the rest of the world dependent on their raw materials
Meanwhile, Russia is defending China in its conflict with Taiwan. Beijing regards Taiwan as part of its national territory. Last week, Russia and China held joint military exercises in the East China Sea.
The Russian army is increasingly attacking Ukraine with rockets.
(Photo: Reuters)
Deputy head of Ukraine’s presidential office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, put the number of civilians killed in Russian rocket attacks on vital infrastructure on Thursday at four. It was the heaviest shelling in weeks. The Ukrainian military said on Friday morning that Russia had fired 85 rockets at Ukraine in the past 24 hours and carried out 35 airstrikes. In addition, there were 63 Russian attacks with multiple rocket launchers.
The Russians attacked Ukraine with Iranian Shahed-131/136 drones on Thursday evening and Friday morning, the Ukrainian Air Force said. All drones were shot down. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said some of the drones were targeting his city. Five out of seven drones launched to Kyiv were shot down directly over the city.
>> Read here: Russia carries out the most massive missile attack to date – without major consequences
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his late night video address that Russia still plans to completely capture eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region by New Year’s Day.
He warned his compatriots of further massive air raids. “But no matter what they plan, we know one thing about ourselves: we will survive. We will. We will evict them. There is no doubt about it. And they will be punished for this terrible war,” Zelenskiy said.
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