/CHINA: Putin Reiterates Support For Strategic Cooperation With China

China Media Group runs an exclusive interview with Russian President Putin on the eve of his visit to Beijing:

• "President Xi Jinping and I have known each other for a long time, as good friends and politicians who hold largely the same views on addressing the world's problems; we maintain close and frequent contact."
• "We oppose the attempts to politicize sport or use it as a tool of coercion, unfair competition and discrimination. We reject the practice of "collective punishment" for acts perpetrated by individual people, which has recently become a frequent occurrence."
• "China remains firmly at the top of the list of Russia's trade partners. According to preliminary data, last year, even despite the pandemic-related restrictions, our bilateral trade reached a historic high, totaling 140 billion dollars."
• "China is our strategic partner in the international arena. Our approaches to most issues on the global agenda concur or are really close. We engage in close coordination within many leading multilateral organizations and formats, such as the UN, BRICS, SCO, G20, APEC and EAS, which has a stabilizing effect on the current difficult world situation."
• Putin's remarks for the Chinese Communist Party's mouthpiece come ahead of his comprehensive bilateral talks with President Xi, during which both leaders are expected to touch upon Russia's tensions with NATO.