China and Russia must work together to defeat Covid-19, Xi Jinping tells Vladimir Putin
- As victors in world war two, neighbours have ‘a special mission to contribute to the development and progress of humankind’, Chinese president says
- Russia ‘opposes individual forces making use of the pandemic to criticise China’ and will stand firmly with Beijing, Putin says
Likening the global health crisis to the second world war, which in China is often referred to as a war against fascism, Xi said that Beijing would continue to provide support to Moscow as it battled the deadly disease.
“Being among the main victor powers in world war two and permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, China and Russia shoulder the task of safeguarding global peace,” Xi told Putin in a telephone conversation, according to a statement by the foreign ministry in Beijing.
“And our countries are assigned a special mission to contribute to the development and progress of humankind,” he said.
“China is willing to work with Russia … to protect international justice, maintain and implement the principles of multilateralism … make a contribution to global development and protect the world order,” Xi said.
Putin was quoted as saying that Russia was willing to strengthen its comprehensive strategic partnership with China.