Putin, Xi highlight boosting Russian-Chinese cooperation

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Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping had formal talks at the Kremlin on Tuesday, marking the second day of the Chinese leader's first trip to Russia since the outbreak of the Ukraine war.

The trip was described by Beijing as a peace mission after it had last month made a peace proposal to put an end to the conflict taking Ukraine by storm.

Read next: Fearing another Chinese achievement, US raises doubts about peace plan

Russian President Vladimir Putin underlined in light of the talks that Moscow was ready to support Chinese businesses in replacing their Western counterparts that have left the country in light of the Ukraine war.

"We are ready to support Chinese business in replacing the production facilities of Western enterprises that have left Russia," Putin underlined during the meeting with Xi and senior Russian officials in the Kremlin.

This comes after numerous Western corporations withdrew from Russia under the pretext of the Ukraine war in a bid to corner Moscow and force it into withdrawing from Ukraine and the Donbass.

This comes as economic sanctions against Moscow resulted in a hike in the prices of global fuel and food, boosting Russia's trade balance, financing its operation, and putting a significant strain on Western economies, according to analysts.

Read next: Lifting sanctions intrinsic part of Ukraine peace settlement: Moscow

Moscow supports use of Yuan

Furthermore, President Putin said his country supported the usage of the Chinese yuan in settlements between Russia and Asian, Latin American, and African states.

According to Putin, "these forms of settlements will take place in yuan between Russian partners and colleagues from third countries."

Read: Yuan more preferable as China, Russia de-dollarize trade

It was reported in August 2022 that Russia wanted Chinese yuan-dominated debt to help bolster the Russian market, with Bloomberg saying yuan bonds would debut in the Russian market in 2023.

Trading volumes between the Chinese currency and the Russian ruble had grown 40-fold since the start of 2022 at that point.

Moreover, the Chinese foreign ministry said last year that it did not rule out the possibility of using rubles or yuans in energy commerce with Russia.

Siberia-2 project nearly completely agreed-upon

Russia and China have agreed on almost all the aspects of the Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline project, Putin highlighted after record daily deliveries were reached in December of 2022 between the two countries.

The highest record of Russian gas delivery was reached after the joint Russian-Chinese project to construct a new 750km-long pipeline section linking Taian, Shandong, and Taixing, Jiangsu to reach the Chinese Yangtze River Delta became operational.

"We have just discussed a good project, this is the new Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline through Mongolia. Almost all the parameters of this agreement have been agreed upon. This is 50 billion cubic meters of gas - reliable, stable supplies from Russia," Putin explained.

Last year, Gazprom announced the existence of a study on the results of the feasibility of the Soyuz Vostok gas pipeline project with Mongolia, which will be a continuation of the Power of Siberia - 2. 

China-Russian ties healthy

The existing relations between China and Russia demonstrate healthy development dynamics, Chinese President Xi Jinping underlined.

"Thanks to our joint efforts, Russian-Chinese relations demonstrate a healthy and stable dynamic of development. Political mutual trust is deepening between our countries, and common interests are multiplying," Xi said at a meeting with Putin in Moscow.

It is worth noting that despite Western sanctions and blackmail, economic turnover between Russia and China has reached historic highs, with Moscow saying the objective of increasing trade volumes to $200 billion would be met ahead of time.

Expanded format talks kicked off

The Chinese and Russian leaders started talks in an expanded format in the Kremlin.

Both presidents had held talks earlier in the day in a narrow format, which included Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, presidential aides Maxim Oreshkin and Yury Ushakov, Russian Ambassador to China Igor Morgulov, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, head of the Central Bank of Russia Elvira Nabiullina, Director of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSMTC) Dmitry Shugaev, and Roscosmos CEO Yuri Borisov.

The expanded format, however, will include Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Andrey Belousov, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko, Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov, Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, Economy Minister Maxim Reshetnikov, Transport Minister Vitaly Savelyev, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev, and Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin.

Read next: China's development center of world's attention in recent years: Putin