Putin praises Xi for Belt and Road, pitches Russia’s Northern Sea route

BEIJING - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday praised Chinese President Xi Jinping for the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and invited global investment in the Northern Sea route, which he said could deepen trade between East and West.

Speaking on his second known trip outside the former Soviet Union since the Ukraine war,

Mr Putin thanked Mr Xi for his invitation

and said Russia could play a key role in China’s modern-day revival of the ancient Silk Road.

Mr Putin called Mr Xi his “dear friend” and heaped praise on the Belt and Road Initiative for bringing the world together.

Shortly before Mr Putin started speaking, a handful of European delegates, including former French prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, walked out of the room, a Reuters witness said.

“Russia and China, like most countries of the world, share the desire for equal, mutually beneficial cooperation in order to achieve universal sustainable and long-term economic progress and social well-being, while respecting the diversity of civilisation and the right of each state to its own development model,” Mr Putin said.

Mr Putin said the BRI fitted with Russia, which he said was developing a host of transport infrastructure to criss-cross the world’s biggest country, notably from the Northern Sea Route, which runs from Murmansk near Russia’s border with Norway, eastwards to the Bering Strait near Alaska.

“As for the Northern Sea Route, Russia does not just offer its partners to actively use its transit potential, I will say more: we invite interested states to participate directly in its development, and we are ready to provide reliable icebreaker navigation, communication and supply,” Mr Putin said.

“Starting (in 2024), navigation for ice-class cargo ships along the entire length of the Northern Sea Route will become year-round.” REUTERS