Chinese President Xi holds virtual meeting with Russian counterpart Putin

Beijing [China], December 30 (ANI): China and Russia should strengthen strategic coordination to "inject more stability" into the world, Chinese President Xi Jinping said in a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin via video link on Friday.

Xi stressed that both sides should make good use of existing mechanisms for further cooperation in economy, trade, energy, and agriculture, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Chinese president said the world's second-largest economy is ready to resume normal cross-border travel with Russia and other countries in an orderly manner.

According to Xinhua, Putin said that in the current complex and severe international situation, Russia-China relations have maintained a sound momentum of development, witnessing steady cooperation progress in various fields, including energy, agriculture, and infrastructure.

The resilience, maturity and stability of Russia-China ties have been enhanced further, Putin said, adding that the significance of strategic coordination between the two countries has become more prominent.

Russia is willing to continue close coordination with China on multilateral platforms including the United Nations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, BRICS and the Group of 20, Putin said.

The Xi-Putin talks come as Russia on Thursday launched what Ukrainian officials described as one of the biggest missile barrages since the war began in February, American broadcaster CNN reported.

According to the report, Ukrainian officials have been cautioning for days that Russia is preparing to launch an all-out assault on the power grid to close out 2022, plummeting the country into darkness.

Yun Sun, director of the China Program at the Washington-based think tank Stimson Center, said China is eager for the war to end.

"Xi will try to emphasize the importance of peace to Putin," she was quoted as saying by CNN. "As Russia is getting impatient with the lack of progress on the battlefield, the timing is ripening for peace talk in China's eyes." (ANI)