Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss the Ukrainian crisis and the situation in Taiwan, RIA Novosti reports.
The meeting of the two leaders takes place on the sidelines of the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
Moscow condemns the provocations that the United States and satellites have staged in the Taiwan Strait, Putin noted. The Russian president also pointed out Beijing's balanced position on the Ukrainian crisis.
"We highly appreciate the balanced position of Chinese friends in connection with the Ukrainian crisis. We understand your questions and your concerns on this matter, and during today's meeting, of course, we will explain in detail our position on this issue, although we have spoken about this before," the Russian President said.
On September 11, it was reported that Xi Jinping would leave China for the first time in more than two years and travel to Central Asia, where he would meet with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. This is Xi's first trip since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The meeting of world leaders is planned on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Uzbekistan, which is held on September 15-16.
Putin arrived in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, for the SCO summit on the morning of 15 September. He will hold meetings with counterparts from China, Iran, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Mongolia and Turkey. According to a diplomatic source in Ankara, Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will discuss Russian gas supplies and the nuances of partial payment for fuel imports in rubles and lira.