Xi, Putin condemn U.S., pledge closer ties

STORY: Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday (May 16) presenting a united front against what they cast as increasing U.S. aggression.

The pair pledged to deepen already close defense and military ties.

Xi and Putin's Beijing meeting came just days after Russia opened a new front in Ukraine, with its troops advancing in the northeastern region of Kharkiv.

Xi said both he and Putin had agreed that a political settlement to the Ukraine crisis was the "right direction."

In a joint statement, they added that both countries were opposed to a drawn out conflict in the country.

"We are grateful to Chinese friends and colleagues for the initiatives they put forward to solve this problem.”

Putin's schedule also included a gala celebration marking 75 years since the Soviet Union recognized the People's Republic of China, and a tea ceremony.

The cosy meeting of the two allies was a clear snub to Washington, who sent U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to China last month in an effort to persuade Beijing to scale back its relationship with Moscow.

Xi signaled that Beijing and Moscow saw eye to eye on a range of important issues, and that they would resist Western pressure to downgrade their ties.

Their statement also spoke of concerns around what they say are U.S. efforts to violate the strategic nuclear balance, global U.S. missile defenses that threaten Russia and China, and U.S. plans for high precision non-nuclear weapons.

While speaking at the opening ceremony of the Russia and China year of culture, Putin said he felt so comfortable in China that he forgot to pause for the translator.

"I feel very much at home, therefore decided that everyone speaks Russian here. // We will continue to act in unison for the successful development of the two countries, the prosperity of the two peoples, to increase the authority and influence of Russia and China in the world."

The United States casts China as its biggest competitor and Russia as its biggest nation-state threat.

U.S. President Joe Biden has said this century will be defined by an existential contest between democracies and autocracies.

Putin and Xi share a broad world view. They cast the West as decadent and declining, just as China challenges U.S. supremacy in everything from tech to espionage and hard military power.