Xi-Putin: 'Leaders Very Concerned About AUKUS', Agree Gas Deal

Headlines emerging from meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, their first face-to-face in two years.

• Reuters reporting that Russia has agreed a long-term gas supply deal with China. Guy Faulconbridge tweets: "Russian President Vladimir Putin told Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Friday that Russia has prepared a new deal to supply China with 10 billion cubic metres of natural gas from its Far East.."
• Link to a joint statement can befound here (in Russian). Some key comments from statement below:
  • "Russia and China oppose the actions of external forces to undermine security and stability in common adjacent regions, intend to resist the interference of external forces under any pretext in the internal affairs of sovereign countries, oppose "color revolutions" and will increase cooperation in the above-mentioned areas."
  • "The parties oppose the further expansion of NATO, call on the North Atlantic Alliance to abandon the ideological approaches of the Cold War era, respect the sovereignty, security and interests of other countries, the diversity of their civilizational, cultural and historical ways, and treat the peaceful development of other states objectively and fairly."
  • "The parties are seriously concerned about the creation by the US, UK and Australia (AUKUS) of a “triangular security partnership”, which provides for deepening cooperation between its participants in areas affecting strategic stability, in particular, their decision to start cooperation in the field of nuclear submarines. Russia and China believe that such actions run counter to the objectives of ensuring security and sustainable development of the Asia-Pacific region, increase the risk of launching an arms race in the region, and create serious risks of nuclear proliferation."