Beijing, Moscow Pledge to Shape New World System… Washington Describes Their Relationship as ‘Marriage of Convenience’

Russian President Vladimir Putin bidding farewell to his Chinese Counterpart Xi Jinping (AFP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin bidding farewell to his Chinese Counterpart Xi Jinping (AFP)
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Beijing, Moscow Pledge to Shape New World System… Washington Describes Their Relationship as ‘Marriage of Convenience’

Russian President Vladimir Putin bidding farewell to his Chinese Counterpart Xi Jinping (AFP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin bidding farewell to his Chinese Counterpart Xi Jinping (AFP)

As Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday wrapped up a three day visit to Moscow where he held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, air raid sirens have blared across the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and in northern and eastern Ukraine with reports of drone attacks.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in its daily update on the conflict that Ukraine’s armed forces had destroyed 16 out of 21 Shahed-136 drones launched by Russia overnight.

Meanwhile in Washington, NSC Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby said that if China really wants to be helpful, it should be urging President Putin to get out of Ukraine.

On Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Kyiv has invited China to talks and is waiting for an answer from Beijing, as Russian President Vladimir Putin hosts China's Xi Jinping in Moscow.

“We offered China to become a partner in the implementation of the peace formula. We passed over our formula across all channels. We invite you to dialogue. We are waiting for your answer,” Zelensky told a press conference, adding that: “We are receiving some signals, but there are no specifics yet.”

President Xi has left Moscow on Wednesday making a strong show of solidarity with Putin against the West, and agreeing with his Russian counterpart on shaping a new world order.

Xi and Putin referred to each other as dear friends, promised economic cooperation and described their countries’ relations as the best they have ever been.

As the Chinese President departed he told Putin: “Now there are changes that haven’t happened in 100 years. When we are together, we drive these changes.”

“I agree,” Putin said, to which Xi responded: “Take care of yourself dear friend, please.”

Putin said on the Kremlin's website: “We are working in solidarity on the formation of a more just and democratic multipolar world order, which should be based on the central role of the UN, its Security Council, international law, the purposes and principles of the UN Charter.”

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday brushed off China’s diplomacy with Russia as a “marriage of convenience.”

“In part as a result of having this very different worldview than we do, they have a marriage of convenience. I’m not sure if it’s conviction,” America’s top diplomat told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

The Chinese leader’s visit to Moscow comes days after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Putin for war crimes allegedly committed in Ukraine.

The visit also comes as Russia seeks to tighten its economic ties with China facing Western sanctions.

Putin said that Russia, China and Mongolia had reached “all agreements” on the completion of a pipeline to bring Russian gas to China, and that Russia would deliver at least 98 billion cubic meters of gas to China by 2030, although a later Russian statement said details of the pipeline still needed to be ironed out.

The President also noted that Russia stood ready to ramp up deliveries of oil and gas to meet China's growing demand for energy resources.

Meanwhile, Xi barely mentioned the Ukraine file and said on Tuesday that China had an “impartial position”. There was no sign that Xi’s efforts to play the role of peacemaker had yielded results.

On her Twitter account, the spokeswoman of China’s foreign ministry said that “China has no selfish agenda on the Ukraine issue. We did not stand by, nor did we add fuel to the fire, or exploit the situation for selfish gain.”

On Monday, Blinken voiced skepticism over Xi’s “peace” proposals in Moscow, warning they could be a “stalling tactic” to help Russia on the ground in Ukraine.

“The world should not be fooled by any tactical move by Russia, supported by China or any other country, to freeze the war on its own terms,” Blinken told reporters.

The Kremlin stressed Wednesday that it was not surprised by the West's 'hostile' reaction to the Russia-China summit, during which Presidents Putin and Xi reaffirmed their alliance amid the war in Ukraine.

“As for the reaction of the collective West, the fact that on all issues this reaction took on an unfriendly and hostile nature is not news to anyone,” said Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

Putin had praised Xi for the peace plan he proposed last month, and blamed Kyiv and the West for rejecting it. The West sees China’s peace plan as a ploy to buy Putin time to regroup his forces and solidify his grip on occupied land.

China’s 12-point plan has no specific details on how to end the bloody year-long war, which has claimed tens of thousands of lives.

In an earlier joint statement the Chinese and Russian leaders accused the West of undermining global stability and NATO of barging into the Asia-Pacific region, but asserted the close partnership between China and Russia did not constitute a “military-political alliance.”

Putin and Xi had signed a joint declaration following talks on Tuesday in which they said that nuclear war can “never” be allowed to happen.

“There can be no winners in a nuclear war, and it must never be unleashed,” the statement said.



Death Toll from Texas Floods Reaches 32; Many Still Missing

 Houses and cars are partially submerged in flood waters in an aerial view near Kerrville, Texas, US, July 4, 2025. (US Coast Guard/Handout via Reuters)
Houses and cars are partially submerged in flood waters in an aerial view near Kerrville, Texas, US, July 4, 2025. (US Coast Guard/Handout via Reuters)
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Death Toll from Texas Floods Reaches 32; Many Still Missing

 Houses and cars are partially submerged in flood waters in an aerial view near Kerrville, Texas, US, July 4, 2025. (US Coast Guard/Handout via Reuters)
Houses and cars are partially submerged in flood waters in an aerial view near Kerrville, Texas, US, July 4, 2025. (US Coast Guard/Handout via Reuters)

Some 32 people, including 14 children, have been confirmed dead following flash floods in central Texas, authorities said on Saturday as rescuers continued a frantic search for campers, vacationers and residents who were still missing.

Officials said more than 850 people had been rescued, including some who were clinging to trees, after a sudden storm dumped up to 15 inches of rain in an area around the Guadalupe River, about 85 miles (137 km) northwest of San Antonio.

Among the missing were dozens of people from the Camp Mystic summer camp, most of them reported to be young girls, after river waters rapidly rose 29 feet.

"We know that the rivers rise, but nobody saw this coming," said Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly, the top local official in the region.

Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said eight of the confirmed dead, including three children, had yet to be identified.

The US National Weather Service said the flash flood emergency has largely ended for Kerr County, following thunderstorms that dumped more than a foot of rain. That is half of the total the region sees in a typical year. A flood watch remained in effect until 7 p.m. for the broader region.

Kerr County sits in the Texas Hill Country, a rural area known for rugged terrain, historic towns and tourist attractions.

Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick said an unknown number of visitors had come to the area for an Independence Day celebration by the river.

"We don't know how many people were in tents on the side, in small trailers by the side, in rented homes by the side," he said on Fox News Live.

Camp Mystic had 700 girls in residence at the time of the flood, according to Patrick. Another girls' camp, Heart O' the Hills, said on its website that co-owner Jane Ragsdale had died in the flood but no campers had been present as it was between sessions.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott said at a news briefing that he had asked President Donald Trump to sign a disaster declaration, which would unlock federal aid for those affected. US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Trump would honor that request.

Trump said earlier in the day that he and his wife Melania were praying for the victims. "Our Brave First Responders are on site doing what they do best," he said on social media.

Trump has previously outlined plans to scale back the federal government's role in responding to natural disasters, leaving states to shoulder more of the burden themselves.

Videos posted online showed bare concrete platforms where homes used to stand and piles of rubble along the banks of the river. Rescuers plucked residents from rooftops and trees, sometimes forming human chains to fetch people from the floodwater, local media reported.

Dalton Rice, city manager for Kerrville, the county seat, told reporters on Friday that the extreme flooding struck before dawn with little or no warning, precluding authorities from issuing advance evacuation orders as the Guadalupe River swiftly rose above major flood stage in less than two hours.

State emergency management officials had warned as early as Thursday that west and central Texas faced heavy rains and flash flood threats, citing National Weather Service forecasts ahead of the holiday weekend.

The forecasts, however, "did not predict the amount of rain that we saw," W. Nim Kidd, director of the Texas Division of Emergency Management, told a news conference on Friday night.

The weekend disaster echoes a catastrophic 1987 Guadalupe River flood in which 10 teenagers drowned when trying to leave a church camp, according to the National Weather Service.