After being left out of democracy summit, Putin-Xi to meet

New Delhi, Dec 15: Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese Premier Xi Jinping are set to meet today days after both nations were left out of the democracy summit organised by the United States.

China and Russia are strengthening ties and in recent times bot nations have focused on bilateral relations on trade, especially on energy. Reuters reports that both China and Russia share similar approaches in foreign policy with respect to Iran, Venezuela and Syria. Both countries have also renewed the push to lift United Nations sanctions on North Korea.

When the two leaders meet, they would discuss the rising tensions on the Russia-Ukraine border. "The situation in international affairs, especially on the European continent, is very, very tense, and of course, requires discussion between the allies, between Moscow and Beijing," the Kremlin spokesman was quoted as saying by the Sputnik news agency. "We see very, very aggressive rhetoric, both from NATO and from the United States of America, this requires our discussion with the Chinese side," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

"At the meeting, the two heads of state will give a full review of China-Russia relations and cooperation in various fields this year and make top-level designs for the development of bilateral ties next year," China's foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said.