Xi & Putin Hold First Call Of 2024

MNI (London) - Chinese state-media CCTV has confirmed that President Xi Jinping held a telephone call with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin earlier on 8 Feb. CCTV states that the call is timed to coincide with the upcoming Chinese New Year. This marks the first communication between the two leaders since Putin travelled to Beijing in October 2023 for the Belt and Road Initiative forum, where the two held a sideline meeting in which they reaffirmed the “strong personal friendship” between them both.

• While details of what was discussed have not yet been forthcoming, one area of international relations that is likely to have garnered interst in Beijing is Russia's increasinglyclose relationswith North Korea.
• As noted by Theresa Fallon, director of Brussels-based think tank the Centre for Russia Europe Asia Studies in an interview with Newsweek, a transfer of high-tech weaponry from Russia to North Korea (in exchange for munitions for use in Ukraine) is causing concern in Japan and South Korea.
• A more well-armed North Korea could see both Tokyo and Seoul boost defence spending or take a more aggressive military posture in the region, a scenario that China will be keen to avoid.