Why Xi Jinping’s the man for me: Vladimir Putin highlights birthday party with ‘good friend’ from China as sign of growing closeness
Russian strongman’s account of how the pair ‘drank a shot and sliced sausages’ conveniently omits other leaders whose relationship with Moscow is more distant
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Xi Jinping was the only world leader who celebrated his birthday in an effusive interview with Chinese state television that signifies the growing closeness between the two sides.
In his description of the time he “sliced some sausage” and drank vodka with his Chinese counterpart the Russian president had apparently forgotten – or perhaps overlooked – the fact that earlier the same day other world leaders had sung “happy birthday” to him at an Asia-Pacific summit.
Putin’s interview was broadcast by CCTV on Wednesday ahead of a visit to China this weekend. His comments come at a time when Xi is edging closer to the authoritarian Russian leader as Beijing’s relations with the United States become increasingly fraught.
Their increasingly tight-knit relations are also a result of Donald Trump’s aggressive and capricious foreign policy, as they put aside their own differences to stress their common interests in geopolitics and security.
Putin who is attending the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in Qingdao this weekend, was keen to heap praise on Xi, calling the Chinese leader a “reliable partner and good friend” and boasting about their special personal rapport.
“I won’t hide it, we had a shot of vodka and sliced some sausage,” he said in the interview. “We finished the day’s work and he celebrated my birthday with me. This might seem irrelevant, but to talk about President Xi, this is where I would like to start.”