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Russian President Vladimir Putin will travel to China after midnight tonight to conclude 15 agreements with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, and to attend the opening of the XXIV Winter Olympic Games, which begin this Friday in Beijing.
The two leaders will sign a joint declaration on “international relations in the new era and global sustainable development,” Putin’s advisor on international policy, Yuri Ushakov, said.
The statement, he added, “will reflect the shared views of Russia and China on the most important global problems, including security issues.”
“Beijing supports Moscow’s demands regarding security guarantees, China shares the position that the security of one state cannot be ensured through damaging the security of another country,” Ushakov noted.
A major package of agreements, both intergovernmental and trade, will be signed during Putin’s visit to Beijing.
“Their coordination is still underway. More than 15 contracts and agreements are in the folder that is being prepared for the meeting,” Ushakov said.
The Kremlin chief will travel to Beijing accompanied by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernishenko, Energy Minister Nikolai Shulguinov and the chairman of Rosneft, Russia’s largest oil company, Igor Sechin.
Ushakov stressed that the Russian-Chinese talks will place special emphasis on cooperation in the field of energy and fuels.
“It is worth noting that the Chinese gas market is the most promising and fastest growing in the world,” the presidential aide said.
He noted that Russia, in just over a year has supplied China with more than 15 billion cubic meters of gas through the Siberian Force pipeline, which is not yet operating at full capacity (38 billion cubic meters annually.)
“But in the gas sector many agreements are being prepared. I cannot say so far, which of them will be signed. But (Putin’s) visit (to Beijing) will obviously mark another step in the development of gas cooperation,” he explained.
