Russian president calls for the overhaul of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund before engaging in discussions with China’s President, Xi Jinping.
The Russian President, Vladimir Putin, has decried the “discriminatory” Western sanctions that are supported by an inequitable financial system. This has affected Russia’s economy, which is hovering on the edge of a recession. The nation is challenged by trade constraints and the expense of Putin’s ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
In an interview with China’s official Xinhua news agency, published on the eve of a high-profile visit to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Putin expressed his sentiment. He plans to attend a grand parade marking the conclusion of World War II following Japan’s official surrender.
“It is crucial to terminate the misuse of finance as a means of neo-colonialism, which opposes the interests of the Global Majority,” Putin remarked during the interview.
“With our Chinese counterparts, we back the restructuring of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. We share the belief that the upcoming financial system demands openness and genuine fairness,” Putin articulated in his interview, lauding China throughout.
A new financial framework would ensure “impartial and nondiscriminatory access to its tools for all countries, and it would reflect the true positions of member states in the global economy”, Putin added.
“I am optimistic that Russia and China will carry on with this dignified objective, coordinating efforts for our nations’ prosperity,” Putin stated further.
In this monumental four-day trip, Putin will be in China, Russia’s most significant trade ally. The visit is tagged by the Kremlin as “unprecedented”.
Putin will first participate in the two-day summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in the northern Chinese coastal city of Tianjin. Established by a group of Eurasian nations in 2001 as a security-centric organization, SCO has grown to ten members, including Iran and India.
Following, Putin will proceed to Beijing for discussions with President Xi and to partake in a military parade within the Chinese capital.
Following the severance of ties by Western countries after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, China extended its support by purchasing Russian oil and exporting goods ranging from vehicles to electronics. This move propelled bilateral trade to a record $245 billion in 2024.
China is now Russia’s prime trading partner, with transactions carried out almost entirely in Russian roubles and Chinese yuan, according to Putin’s interview.
Russia tops the list of oil and gas exporters to China, and both sides continue amassing joint efforts to diminish trade barriers bilaterally.
In 2022, Putin and Xi proclaimed a “no-limits” strategic partnership; the two have convened more than 40 times over the past decade.
