China praises Putin’s leadership, calls for stability in Russia

China moved to bolster Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday, praising his “strategic orientation” and calling for stability, but not until the dust settled over a short-lived mutiny that defied his rule.

Beijing sat quietly throughout Saturday as the mercenary Wagner Group seized the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and moved to storm Moscow with demands for changes in Putin’s military leadership. Meanwhile, Western governments issued concerned statements saying they were monitoring the rapidly evolving situation in Russia.

It was long after the Russian leader struck a deal on Saturday night with Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin and ended the military rebellion that Beijing spoke of.

“This is a matter of Russia’s internal affairs,” the Foreign Ministry in Beijing said in a statement on Sunday. “China supports Russia in safeguarding national stability and bringing development and prosperity.”

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko received Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu in Beijing on Sunday. was more positive about the Russian leader. “Under the strategic leadership of President Xi Jinping and President Vladimir Putin, Sino-Russian political trust has continued to deepen,” Ma said.

However, Beijing made it public that it wanted Moscow to keep China informed as quickly as possible in the future. According to the ministry, Ma told Rudenko to “communicate and verify in a timely manner” in the face of the “complex and difficult international atmosphere.”

The Russian Foreign Ministry said Rudenko’s trip to Beijing was a follow-up to Xi’s visit to Russia in March, aimed at deepening and expanding bilateral ties.

“The Chinese side expressed its support for the efforts made by the Russian leadership to stabilize the situation in the country in connection with the events of June 24, and affirmed its interest in Russia’s strengthened unity and further prosperity,” he said. the Russian ministry in a statement. statement.

Xi has repeatedly propped up Putin during the course of the war that began last year and kept Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy waiting for more than a year before direct communication. China has kept trade open with Russia, which has had most of its economy under Western sanctions, but the two countries have stopped short of a military alliance.