Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping met Friday during the opening day of the Beijing Winter Olympics to show they’re united against the West amid the tension with Ukraine.
What happened: Putin and Xi met as the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing started up, according to The Washington Post.
- The two spoke about the ongoing geopolitical issues. They did not mention the Ukraine crisis specifically.
- In a joint statement, the two leaders said they were both opposed to NATO expanding too much.
- China and Russia issued a direct call out to “actors representing but the minority on the international scale” who “continue to advocate unilateral approaches to addressing international issues.”
Why this matters: The meeting is a sign that Russia and China are teaming up right now as the U.S. stands firmly against Russia for its potential invasion of Ukraine.
Between the lines: China and Russia were speaking out against the United States, which Russia has blamed for the ongoing tension with Ukraine.
State of play: Before the meeting between Xi and Putin, the United States decided to warn China about helping Russia to avoid any potential sanctions it will receive if Russia invades Ukraine, per Reuters.
- “We have an array of tools that we can deploy if we see foreign companies, including those in China, doing their best to backfill U.S. export control actions, to evade them, to get around them,” said U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price, according to Reuters.
The bigger picture: All of this comes as Russia still stands on the border of Ukraine.
- Reports on Thursday suggested Russia is orchestrating a plan to release “a faked video that would build on recent disinformation campaigns.”
- The video would allegedly show the Ukraine government attacking people on Russian territory or Russian supporters in Ukraine.