Calls China Russia's Ally, President Putin Affirms Supporting Taiwan's Around Policy

President Putin when receiving President Xi on the sidelines of the 2024 BRICS Summit. (Source: Kristina Kormilitsyna/brics-russia2024.ru/Host Photo Agency via Kremlin)

JAKARTA - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday described China as Russia's ally and supported Beijing's claim to Taiwan, while declaring no country should be afraid as the two countries deepen cooperation.

The two countries have not declared a formal military alliance, but President Putin and President Xi Jinping signed a "infinite" partnership agreement in 2022, less than three weeks before the Kremlin Leaders sent their troops to Ukraine.

In May this year, they agreed to deepen what they call a "comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation" for a new era.

"We do not believe China is pursuing aggressive policies in the region," President Putin said at the Valdai discussion club at Russia's Black Sea resort, Sochi.

He further stated that Taiwan is trying to ignite a crisis like Ukraine in Asia to withdraw support from outside.

China views democratically-ruled Taiwan as its own territory and regularly conducts war games near the island.

"A lot of things are happening around Taiwan. Everyone officially admits, yes, Taiwan is part of China. But in reality? In reality, Taiwan is acting in a completely different direction. Provoking the situation towards escalation," President Putin explained.

"We support China. And because of that, we believe that (Chingkok) is implementing policies that completely make sense. And also because China is our ally. We have a huge trade turnover, we are working together in the security sector," he said.

President Putin then compared bilateral military exercises between Russia and China with those carried out by the United States and Japan.

"These exercises do not threaten anyone," said President Putin.

"These exercises are aimed at ensuring our safety," he said.