លោក ពូទីន និងលោក ស៊ី បន្ទោសសហរដ្ឋអាមេរិក និងសម្ព័ន្ធមិត្តចំពោះការបង្កើនការប្រកួតប្រជែងអាវុធ

Leaders 'oppose further expansion of NATO' at Olympics summit

BEIJING -- Russia's President Vladimir Putin and China's President Xi Jinping have condemned the U.S. and its allies for stoking the arms race in Asia-Pacific, and expressed opposition to the expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in eastern Europe.

The two leaders held a bilateral meeting in the Chinese capital on Friday hours before the world's eyes turned to Beijing for the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics and as Russia amasses more than 100,000 troops on the Ukrainian border.

Putin was one of 22 world leaders to attend to the ceremony that several Western politicians were boycotting, including U.S. President Joe Biden. Afterwards, Chinese state TV called America's effort to diminish the Games a failure.

In a joint statement that followed the meeting, both leaders vowed to strengthen cooperation within the framework of multilateralism and push back against efforts by "certain states" to impose democratic standards on other countries.

"The sides are seriously concerned about the trilateral security partnership between Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom (AUKUS)," the statement said, adding that cooperation on nuclear-powered submarines would increase the risk of a regional arms race and nuclear proliferation.

The statement comes amid mounting tension over Ukraine.

Biden has ordered more than 3,000 troops to deploy to NATO members Germany, Poland and Romania, in response to Russia's troop mobilization along its border with Ukraine.

"The sides oppose further enlargement of NATO and call on the North Atlantic Alliance to abandon its ideologized cold war approaches," the statement said.

Putin's talks with Xi on Friday mark the first in-person meeting between the two leaders since June 2019, when they met on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Japan. It will also be Xi's first face-to-face meeting with a foreign leader since Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen visited Beijing in February 2020, just after the COVID-19 pandemic started.

On Friday the White House sought to deflect concerns about closer ties between Xi and Putin, saying Biden is focused on America's own bilateral relationships and projection of values.

"The president views it ... as, we have our own relationship with China," said White House press secretary Jen Psaki. Psaki also underscored how any Russian invasion of Ukraine would cause problems for China as well.

"A destabilizing conflict in Europe would impact China's interests all over the world. And certainly China should know that," she said.

According to earlier media reports -- including those from state sources in China and Russia -- Putin arrived on Friday afternoon and immediately began talks with Xi, reportedly offering a new deal to supply China with 10 billion cubic meters of natural gas.

Xi and Putin are expected to deepen economic and political ties, especially gas imports by China amid Western sanctions on Russia, which are restricting Moscow's sources of foreign currency.

In a signed article published by Xinhua on Thursday, Putin wrote that "we have plans to implement a number of large-scale joint projects," including construction of four new units at nuclear power plants in China "with the participation of Rosatom State Corporation."

Putin added that "foreign policy coordination" will also be "an important part of the visit."

Additional reporting by Jack Stone Truitt in New York.

Nikkei Asia