Cold thaw? Xi and Putin attack west in ‘no limits' unity display

While a full alliance between Moscow and Beijing is unlikely, they want to roll back US influence

- Andrew Roth and Vincent Ni

China’s Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin of Russia have signed a joint statement calling on the west to “abandon the ideologised approaches of the cold war ”, as the two leaders showcased their warming relationship in Beijing at the start of the Winter Olympics.

The politicians also said the bonds between the two countries had “no limits”. “[T]here are no ‘forbidden’ areas of cooperation’,” they declared.

In the joint statement released by the Kremlin, Putin and Xi called on Nato to rule out expansion in eastern Europe, denounced the formation of security blocs in the Asia Pacific region, and criticised the Aukus trilateral security pact between the US, U K and Australia.

The two leaders met for the 38th time since 2013. The two countries also pledged to step up cooperation to thwart “colour revolutions” and external interference, and vowed to further deepen “back-to-back” strategic coordination.