Putin pulls back from last remaining nuclear arms control pact with the US (Pavel Bednyakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) Pavel Bednyakov/Sputnik/Kremlin Pool/AP Russian President Vladimir Putin gives his annual state of the nation address in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Feb. Wang’s trip comes after US President Joe Biden made a surprise visit to Ukraine on Monday in a show of support for the embattled country, which Washington and its European allies have rallied together to back over the past year through both military and humanitarian aid, and economic sanctions against Russia. Wang and Patrushev also “exchanged their opinions” on the issue of Ukraine, the statement added, without offering details.
The readout said the two officials agreed to oppose “the Cold War mentality, bloc confrontation and ideological opposition” – a thinly veiled criticism of the US – and to make more efforts to “improve global governance,” in an apparent reference to Beijing and Moscow’s ambitions to reshape the global order in their favor. Wang met with the head of Russia’s Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, on Tuesday, according to a readout from China’s Foreign Ministry. While neither country has specified whether Wang will hold talks with President Vladimir Putin, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday that “we do not exclude” such a meeting. He will meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday, Russian state media TASS reported, citing the Russian foreign ministry. Wang, who was named Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s top foreign policy adviser last month, is making the high-profile visit as the final stop in an eight-day international tour that included visits to France, Italy, and Hungary, as well as Germany for a security conference. China’s top diplomat Wang Yi arrived in Moscow on Tuesday, in the first visit to Russia by a Chinese official in that role since the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began nearly a year ago.
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