(MENAFN- AsiaNet News) In a strikingly confident address today, Russian President Vladimir Putin reaffirmed the strength of Russia's relationship with China, dismissing Western critiques and claims of geopolitical tensions. Both countries have been facing rising tensions with the West, and they criticized US military alliances in Asia and the Pacific region.
"We don't have hostile languages; we don't even have hostile countries," Putin declared, setting a tone of defiance and camaraderie.
Putin contended that the true source of tension lies in the attitudes of certain Western elites, who, in his view, have long sought to undermine Russia's stability.
"There are some hostile elites in some countries which have fought Russia for centuries," he said, suggesting that these figures are motivated by a desire to see Russia divided and diminished.
The Russian leader, however, made a clear distinction between Western hostility and Russia's strategic partnership with China. "They're thinking about dividing Russia into smaller parts," he noted, "but we don't have any such problems with China."
In contrast to his critical view of Western elites, Putin praised the robust and growing relationship between Russia and China. He emphasized the mutual benefits of this alliance, highlighting its comprehensive nature. "We are allies in every aspect," Putin asserted.
"Consolidating our efforts and economy and culture is also part of that," Putin added.
The Russian President's statements underscore a broader strategic shift towards deepening ties with Beijing as a counterbalance to Western pressures.
While speaking at the session,
Putin also said that young members of his family speak fluent Mandarin, though he told school children they should not forget the importance of English too despite the growing popularity of Chinese.
"Some of my family members, the little ones, speak Chinese too - they speak it fluently," Putin told pupils of Secondary School No. 20 in Kyzyl, Tuva, about 4,500 km (2,800 miles) east of Moscow.
Putin and China's President Xi Jinping in May pledged a "new era" of partnership between the two most powerful rivals of the United States, which they cast as an aggressive Cold War hegemon sowing chaos across the world.
China and Russia declared a "no limits" partnership in February 2022 when Putin visited Beijing just days before he sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine, triggering the deadliest land war in Europe since World War Two.
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