Cooperation between Russia, China Important for International Law, Stability- Putin

BEIJING- Russia and China should stick to the existing line of cooperation, despite current geopolitical changes as it is important for the international law and stability, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said Sunday, according to RIA Novosti.

“Cooperation between Russia and China is extremely important for keeping the world in line with the international law, making it [the world] more stable,” Putin stated during the talks with the Chinese President Xi Jinping held on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Beijing.

The Chinese leader accentuated the importance for both countries to adhere to the chosen line of cooperation, to expand and deepen it, despite the current geopolitical situation.

On Thursday Russian President Vladimir Putin said that increasing cooperation with China, including in the energy sector, is one of Russia’s top foreign policy priorities.

The APEC summit is taking place this weekend in Beijing, China and will be followed by the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting (AELM) on Monday and Tuesday next week. The two meetings will bring together 21 nations to discuss economic issues as well as joining forces to respond to the Ebola virus epidemic, the situation in Ukraine and other ongoing issues.

Ruble-yuan settlements will cut US dollar domination in energy sales

Doing away from the US dollar and switching to the ruble and the Yuan in settlements will significantly increase Russia and China’s say in energy and financial markets, Vladimir Putin has said, adding that the first deals are already underway, RT reported.

“Payments in rubles and Yuan are very promising. Switching to such a large-scale work means that the impact of the dollar on the global energy sector will objectively decline. This is not bad either for the global economy, or the world of finance and the world energy markets,” Putin said at a meeting of the APEC Business Summit.

“It will help expand our capabilities in mutual trade and influence both world financial and energy markets,” the president said.

He added that Russia is considering letting Chinese investors into one of Russia’s huge winning companies, where settlements in Yuan comes as one of the terms.

The day before Russia’s oil giant Rosneft and China National Oil and Gas Exploration and Development Corporation signed an agreement on the acquisition of a 10 percent stake at Vankorneft, a Rosneft subsidiary that develops oil in Russia’s Eastern Siberia.

Putin stressed that Moscow and Beijing aim for broader use of the Yuan and the ruble in mutual settlements.

Putin added that making payments in national currency is planned particularly in oil trade. “Our experts are assessing such possibilities,” he said.

“Much attention has been paid to the topic of mutual payments in Yuan in a variety of areas, including such sensitive ones as military and technical cooperation. This will help to strengthen the Yuan as a reserve local currency”, said the Russian president’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov after Putin met with China’s President Xi Jinping on Sunday.

Agencies

H. Mustafa