Putin and Xi call for halt to NATO expansion in show of unity at Beijing Olympics, Kremlin says

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping issued a call for NATO to halt further expansion during a meeting on the sidelines of the Olympics on Friday, according to a joint statement released by the Kremlin.

The two leaders’ summit, held on the day of the Opening Ceremony for the Winter Olympics in Beijing, marked a further step in what has become an increasingly close partnership between Beijing and Moscow, as relations with the West deteriorate for both.

According to an English-language version of the join statement released by the Kremlin, the two countries “believe that certain States, military and political alliances and coalitions seek to obtain, directly or indirectly, unilateral military advantages to the detriment of the security of others.”

Russia and China also “oppose further enlargement of NATO and call on the North Atlantic Alliance to abandon its ideologized cold war approaches, to respect the sovereignty, security and interests of other countries, the diversity of their civilizational, cultural and historical backgrounds, and to exercise a fair and objective attitude towards the peaceful development of other States,” the Kremlin statement said.

A readout from Chinese state media outlet Xinhua said the two leaders “had an in-depth and thorough exchange of views on China-Russia relations and a series of major issues concerning international strategic security and stability” but made no direct mention of NATO.

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