Kremlin Says After Xi-Blinken Talks It’s Confident in China-Russia Ties 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, June 19, 2023. (Reuters)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, June 19, 2023. (Reuters)
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Kremlin Says After Xi-Blinken Talks It’s Confident in China-Russia Ties 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, June 19, 2023. (Reuters)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, June 19, 2023. (Reuters)

Russia is not worried about potential US attempts to influence China's policy towards Moscow, the Kremlin said on Tuesday, commenting on US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken's visit to Beijing where he held talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

During a rare visit to Beijing by Blinken, China and the United States agreed on Monday to stabilize their intense rivalry so it did not veer into conflict, but failed to produce any major breakthrough.

Blinken said however that he had asked the Chinese government to be very vigilant about the possibility that Chinese firms may be providing Russia with technology that it could use in its war in Ukraine, something Moscow calls a "special military operation."

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Beijing had the sovereign right to forge ties with other countries and that the process of trying to build predictable relations between China and the United States was an important one.

Russia did not think there was a risk of US-China talks causing problems for Moscow, he said.

"Our strategic partnership relationship with China make us confident that (Beijing's) development of relations with other countries will never be aimed against our country," Peskov said.

Hit with sanctions by the United States and the European Union over Ukraine, Russia has sought in Beijing a market for its energy exports and a partnership in a global anti-Western axis that would challenge the existing world order.

Xi visited Russia in March, pledging friendship, but maintaining an "impartial position" on the Ukraine conflict. A peace plan proposed by Beijing has so far produced no breakthrough.



Germany's Scholz Urges Iran to De-escalate after Israeli Strikes

A general view of Tehran after several explosions were heard, in Tehran, Iran, October 26, 2024. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
A general view of Tehran after several explosions were heard, in Tehran, Iran, October 26, 2024. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
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Germany's Scholz Urges Iran to De-escalate after Israeli Strikes

A general view of Tehran after several explosions were heard, in Tehran, Iran, October 26, 2024. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
A general view of Tehran after several explosions were heard, in Tehran, Iran, October 26, 2024. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

German chancellor Olaf Scholz called on Iran to end the cycle of escalation following Israeli strikes on Iranian military sites early on Saturday, saying restraint could pave the way for peace in the Middle East, Reuters reported.

"My message to Iran is clear: We cannot continue with massive reactions of escalation. This must end now," Scholz said in a post on social media platform X.

"This will provide an opportunity for peaceful development in the Middle East," he added.

Israel struck military sites in Iran early on Saturday, but its retaliation for an Iranian attack this month did not appear aimed at the country's most sensitive oil and nuclear targets after urgent calls from allies and neighbors for restraint.