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00:00Vladimir Putin is in China today for a state visit, his second trip there in just over six months,
00:05the Russian president sitting down with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
00:09Putin was greeted with full military honors at the Great Hall of the People,
00:12the massive seat of the ceremonial legislature in the heart of Beijing.
00:17China, of course, is an economic lifeline for Russia after it was hit by unprecedented
00:21sanctions from the West over its war in Ukraine. Well, we're going to talk more about this meeting
00:27today with France 24's chief foreign editor, Rob Parsons, who joins me on set. Rob, let's start
00:31with Russia. What would be the best case scenario for Russia coming out of these talks?
00:35Well, I mean, already looking at the way he was greeted by Xi Jinping,
00:39that's enormous for Vladimir Putin. You know, you mentioned this is his second visit in six
00:45months. It's also his 19th since he first became president of Russia in 2000, and the 43rd time
00:52that the two men have actually met. So that tells you just how important this relationship is to
00:57Vladimir Putin personally, particularly at a time when in many countries around the world at the
01:03moment, he's regarded as a pariah. He's wanted by the International Criminal Court. There's a warrant
01:08out for his arrest. If he goes to some countries, he will be arrested. For instance, he was due to
01:12go to South Africa for a BRICS conference there, and he had to cancel it because there was a risk
01:17since South Africa is a member of the International Criminal Court that he could get arrested there.
01:22For him to be able to go to China and to be greeted in this way, for him, it means an awful
01:29lot. It is a relationship, we have to say. It's more than just the frills and everything that
01:36goes with it. This is a very substantial relationship. The two men see eye to eye
01:41on a lot of things, particularly the relationship with the United States. But it's also very
01:48substantial as well. One of the big criticisms made of China, when Antony Blinken was in China
01:53just a couple of weeks ago, was that China is supplying the Russian Defense Ministry with the
02:00second-use materials that allow it to get around sanctions from the West and allow its defense
02:05industry to produce the rockets and tanks and everything else, using ball bearings that come
02:11from China, for instance, to get around those sanctions and to fight the war against Ukraine.
02:17So that gives you an idea just how important it is. There's a downside to it as well, because
02:23there's no doubt that in this relationship between Russia and China, Russia is very much the junior
02:28partner. And Russia's not really used to that. For centuries, it's been the other one.
02:34A couple of hundred years, it's been the other way around. In more recent terms,
02:39since the creation of the People's Republic of China in the early decades, there's no doubt that
02:45Russia was the big brother. Not anymore. Right. So given that, what's China hoping to get out of
02:50this meeting? Well, for China, pretty much the same in many respects. But, you know, it's also
02:57the solidity that comes with allying with a country as big as Russia. The world's biggest
03:03country stretches from the Pacific Ocean right across to the Baltic Sea and one of the biggest
03:08armies in the world. So put those two countries together, China, the second most powerful country
03:13in the world, one of the fastest growing economy, plus Russia with its population, its size,
03:19the raw materials it's providing and so on. And the market, remember, that Russia is providing,
03:24particularly now with sanctions coming from the West. It's a huge opportunity for China
03:28and they're exploiting it. You know, trade has gone up by 64 percent between 2021, 2023 to 240
03:35billion. Exports, I mean, rather than just trade. So that tells you why it's important for China.
03:40And also, you know, the Chinese like the fact that they've got the upper hand. They dictate
03:46the direction in which this relationship moves. All right, Rob, thanks for that. France24's Rob Parsons.