Kremlin: Significant progress in China-Russia talks on Arctic shipping
"New logistical hubs are in the making," Putin said after bilateral talks with Xi.
"There is significant progress in issues related to the development and commercial use of the Northern Sea Route," the Russian ruler underlined in today's joint press briefing with China's Xi Jinping.
According to the dictator, goods volumes shipped across the Arctic between the countries are increasing from year-to-year.
He also said that bilateral trade benefits from expanding capacity at border crossing points.
"New logistical hubs are being created," he underlined.
The meetings were held ahead of Putin's May 9 war celebrations. Xi will be among the foreign state leaders that will pay tribute to the military forces that are to parade on the Red Square.
Many of the soldiers come straight from the frontlines in Ukraine where they take part in Russia's latest war of aggression. Also soldiers from China's People's Liberation Army are due to take part in the parade.
The two state leaders have met ten times before. The increasingly intimate relationship also has an Arctic dimension.
Albeit not highlighted during the meetings this week, the far northern region was mentioned both in the press briefing and the two sides' joint declaration.
"The sides are in favour of preserving peace and stability in the Arctic and preventing military and political tension in the region," the declaration reads.
When Xi visited Putin in Moscow in March 2023, the sides decided to establish a joint working group on the Northern Sea Route. When Putin visited Beijing few months later in October 2023, infrastructure and logistics was again on the agenda.
In October 2024, the two countries' foreign ministries agreed to step up bilateral talks on Arctic. In December the same year, top officials from Beijing and Moscow sat down for their first meeting in a joint cooperation body for the Northern Sea Route.
