Russia and China are working on financial deals that will limit the impact of potential Western-imposed monetary punishments, the Kremlin has warned.
Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said President Vladimir Putin is preparing to meet Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing on Friday to discuss their 'common views' on security, amid fears Russia is preparing to invade Ukraine.
Ushakov said Moscow and Beijing were making serious efforts to create joint financial infrastructure that could safeguard Russia-China cooperation from potential sanctions from other countries, many of which have threatened to impose restrictions on Russia should military action be taken.
He added that the Kremlin was confident China would back Russia over its security concerns with the West, as NATO leaders pursue diplomatic efforts to avert a feared Russian invasion but have continued to turn down Russian demands.
Concerns have also been mounting in recent months that China could launch its own invasion of Taiwan, with Xi's rhetoric becoming increasingly hostile.
Russia and China are working on financial deals that will limit the impact of potential Western-imposed monetary punishments, the Kremlin has warned. Pictured: Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, for talks in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, June 5, 2019
Tensions between Taipei and Beijing, which claims the democratically-ruled island as its own territory, have risen in the past two years as China steps up military activities near Taiwan to pressure it to accept Chinese rule.
Experts have suggested China is intently following the US and European response over Ukraine to gauge what might happen if it were to move against Taiwan.
Putin and Xi will have lunch together on Friday which will see the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics, and could sign more than 15 agreements, Ushakov told reporters today, with lots of new deals being prepared in relation to natural gas.
'A joint statement on international relations entering a new era has been prepared for the talks,' Ushakov said, adding that it will reflect Moscow and Beijing's 'common views' on security among other issues.
'China supports Russia's demands for security guarantees,' Ushakov added.
Western leaders have accused Russia of amassing more than 100,000 troops on its borders with pro-Western Ukraine and preparing for a potential invasion.
The West has warned that a Russian attack would be met with 'severe consequences' including wide-ranging economic sanctions.
Russia denies any plans to invade, instead accusing the West of failing to respect Moscow's security concerns on its borders.
Russian officials have put forward a series of demands to ease tensions, including bans on Ukraine joining NATO and on the deployment of missile systems near Russia's borders, as well as a pullback of the US-led military alliance's forces in eastern Europe.
A number of Western countries have threatened to impose sanctions on Russia should military action be taken against Ukraine. Pictured: Russian army snipers from the Western Military District conduct an ambush on a mock enemy convoy during an exercise in the Nizhny Novgorod Region, February 2, 2022
Experts have suggested China is intently following the US and European response over Ukraine to gauge what might happen if it were to move against Taiwan. Pictured: Russian and Belarusian tanks drive during joint military drills on February 2, 2022
Competition got underway in the Beijing Winter Olympics today as the shadow of war in Ukraine and the impending arrival of Putin, who will attend Friday's opening ceremony, loomed over an event already transformed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Ushakov said the possibility of Russia building a new gas pipeline to China through Mongolia was being looked at, a project that has been discussed for a long time and would take years to be fully realised.
Deliveries via an existing pipeline, the Power of Siberia, a 2,485 mile (4,000 km) project that transfers gas from eastern Russia to China, began in 2019. It took around a decade to reach an agreement on supply terms.
Some experts doubt that a second gas pipeline from Russia to China, which recently overtook Japan as the world´s largest importer of sea-borne liquefied natural gas, will come to pass.
But Putin's visit comes at a time when the reliability of Russian gas supplies to Europe is being questioned by some Western politicians and when Moscow is keen to show it potentially has other options even if they are not realistic overnight.
'It is worth noting that the Chinese gas market is the most promising and fastest growing in the world,' said Ushakov.
Spot gas prices in Europe reached all-time highs in December amid soaring demand and limited supply.
Russian gas supplies to Europe have come under scrutiny as thousands of Russian troops have massed near the border of traditional gas transit nation Ukraine, raising fears of an invasion, something Moscow denies planning.
Western nations have threatened a slew of sanctions should Russia make an incursion onto Ukrainian territory. Ushakov said China supported Russia's effort to extract security demands from the West.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Energy Minister Nikolai Shulginov and Igor Sechin, CEO of oil major Rosneft will be among the Russian delegation, Ushakov added.
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a ceremony to present the highest state awards in the Kremlin, in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022. Of Tuesday, Putin accused the West of ignoring Russia's demands and suggested Washington was using Kyiv as an instrument to potentially drag Moscow into a war
President Vladimir Putin is preparing to meet Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing on Friday - the day of the Winter Olympics opening ceremony - to discuss their 'common views' on security, amid fears Russia is preparing to invade Ukraine. Pictured: The Big Air freestyle venue is seen at dusk at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics Torch Relay on February 2, 2022 in Beijing
In his first major remarks on the crisis in weeks, Putin on Tuesday accused the West of ignoring Russia's demands and suggested Washington was using Kyiv as an instrument to potentially drag Moscow into a war.
'Ukraine itself is just a tool to achieve this goal' of containing Russia, Putin said, suggesting the aim was 'drawing us into some kind of armed conflict' in order to impose sanctions.
Putin left the door open to talks however, saying he hoped that 'in the end we will find a solution'.
The United States and NATO have provided written responses to Moscow's demands, which Putin said he is studying.
Spanish newspaper El Pais on Wednesday published what it said were leaked copies of the responses, which showed Washington and NATO offering Moscow arms control and trust-building measures.
The proposals remain firm on insisting that Ukraine and any other country has a right to apply to join the alliance.
But the reported US response suggests 'reciprocal commitments by both the United States and Russia to refrain from deploying offensive ground-launched missile systems and permanent forces with a combat mission in the territory of Ukraine.'
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte was meanwhile the latest NATO leader to visit Kyiv in a show of support for Ukraine, where he met President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The visit came a day after Zelensky met in Kyiv with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who was due to hold a phone call with Putin on Wednesday.
Pictured: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson holds talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv, Ukraine February 1, 2022
After the talks, Zelensky said Ukraine was focused 'only on peace', but insisted it has the right to defend itself.
'It is essential for dialogue to continue between Russia and the United States, between Russia and NATO,' Rutte told a joint press conference.
The tensions have been aggravated by plans for joint military exercises between Russia and neighbouring Belarus, where Washington claims Moscow is preparing to send 30,000 troops.
Video footage released by the Russian defence ministry on Wednesday showed tanks speeding across snowy fields in Belarus and combat helicopters flying overhead as units from both countries practised ahead of the February 10-20 drills.
Johnson and the Polish prime minister were in Kyiv on Tuesday ahead of Rutte, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was due in Ukraine on Thursday.
Erdogan will try to leverage his strategic position in NATO and rapport with Putin to help resolve the crisis, though Ankara's supplying of combat drones to Ukraine has angered Moscow.
The French and German foreign ministers are also expected in Ukraine next week and to visit the frontline in the east where Kyiv's forces are battling Russian-backed separatists.
Putin has said French President Emmanuel Macron could also be travelling to Moscow in the coming days.
Ukraine has been battling Moscow-backed insurgencies in two separatist regions since 2014, when Moscow annexed the Crimean peninsula. More than 13,000 people have been killed in the fighting, the last major ongoing war in Europe.
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