Bff's second face-to-face meeting in as many months...
By Tyler Durden: In their second face-to-face meeting in as many months, Russian President Vladimir Putin told his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping that "Russian-Chinese relations of comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation are in the best period of their history." Russian state media subsequently likened it to a golden age in relations.
The two are meeting once again at the annual session of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which runs Wednesday through Thursday in the Kazakh capital of Astana. "Russia-China relations are on the highest level in history, and they are not aimed against anyone, we do not create blocs or unions, we just act in the interests of our nations," Putin stressed.
And Xi told Putin in brief opening remarks, "In the face of the turbulent international situation and external environment, the two sides should continue to uphold the original aspiration of friendship for generations to come."
Still, the reality is that the two are coming closer based ultimately on countering the US, while also vying for influence among other Central Asian SCO bloc countries, which includes the ex-Soviet republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Those are among the founding members alongside Russian and China, while India and Pakistan joined in 2017, and Iran was welcomed as the newest member last year.