- Russian President Vladimir Putin said he agreed with Chinese President Xi Jinping that the Belt and Road idea “fits logically into multilateral efforts” to strengthen global cooperation.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping walk side by side for a group photo session during the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, October 18, 2023.
Grigory Sysoyev | AFP | Getty Images
In a rare international appearance since the war in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed a live audience at the third Belt and Road Forum in Beijing on Wednesday.
In the opening speech, Putin invited other countries to take part in the development of the Northern Sea Route. The meeting marks the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative Summit.
In a speech to 1,000 delegates from more than 130 countries, Putin said he agreed with Chinese President Xi Jinping that the Belt and Road idea “fits logically into multilateral efforts” to improve global cooperation.
“In the European part of Russia, we are forming an international north-south corridor… It connects Russian ports in the Baltic Sea and the Arctic with the ports on the coast of the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean along the entire route from our northern city.” ” Putin said, according to a Google translation of his prepared remarks.
The Northern Sea Route is a 3,480-mile shipping route between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, running from the entrances to the Novaya Zemiya Strait in the west along Russia’s Arctic coast above Siberia.
In addition, Moscow is working with foreign partners to also build railway lines from central Siberia south to China, Mongolia and other ports in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, Putin said.
“Russia is the greatest country in the world,” Putin said. “Therefore, the connectivity of all partners is relevant for the relationships between the partners.”
Russia has a total area of 17,098,242 km², making it the largest in the world.
According to an analysis by Foreign Policy, the successful development of the NSR would “potentially position Russia to play a critical role in global trade and communications between Asia and Europe.”
Putin met his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing on Wednesday to strengthen their “borderless” partnership against the backdrop of an escalating Middle East conflict and the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Putin added that the “One Belt, One Road” initiative was in line with Russian ideas of “creating an integration cycle in which freedom of trade, investment and labor would be fully guaranteed.”
This is Putin’s third participation in the Belt and Road Forum, the previous two taking place in 2017 and 2019.
In his opening speech, Xi highlighted the progress of the initiative, which he said will receive billions of dollars in new funding.
“The China Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of China will each set up a financing window of 350 billion yuan ($47.9 billion),” Xi said. This is in addition to the additional 80 billion yuan going into the Silk Road Fund.
Xi added that China will further deepen cooperation in areas such as green infrastructure and green transportation to support the BRI International Green Development Coalition.
Xi and Putin will also hold bilateral talks on Wednesday.
In the decade since Xi launched the Belt and Road Initiative, new infrastructure investments have helped expand China’s influence in developing countries.