It is important Russia, China have no territorial claims against each other— Putin

MOSCOW. (TASS): Russian President Vladimir Putin has stressed it is important that Russia and China have no territorial claims against each other and that this recognition rests upon a firm legal basis.
In a video conversation with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Monday, Putin said that the Russian-Chinese Treaty of Good-Neighborliness, Friendship, and Cooperation, signed 20 years ago, largely determined the current condition of bilateral relations.
“It is important that it stated the absence of mutual territorial claims and the two countries’ determination to turn the common border into a belt of eternal peace and friendship. We have done a great deal for this, including the work on the border. We have worked on this for years. We and our teams have achieved the desired result, suitable for China and for Russia,” Putin said.
The treaty of friendship, he emphasized, incorporated old-time historical traditions of neighborliness between the people of the two countries.
“Enshrined in this document are such fundamental agreements as mutual support in the protection of state unity and territorial integrity, the pledge not to be the first to use nuclear weapons and not to target strategic missiles against each other – such agreements are greatly significant in the modern world – and respect for the sovereign right to choose a social system and way of development, and non-interference in the internal affairs,” Putin said.
The Russian leader noted that, in the past 20 years, the two countries had significantly increased their interaction on foreign policy – one of the key components of the strategic partnership.
“Amid the increasing geopolitical turbulence, the breakdown of arms control agreements, and the increasing conflict potential in various corners of the world, the Russian-Chinese coordination plays a stabilizing role in the global affairs,” Putin underscored.
He explained that he was referring to such pressing issues of the international agenda as settlement on the Korean Peninsula, in Syria, in Afghanistan, and the restoration of the Iran Nuclear Deal.
“We work actively on the Shanghai Cooperation Organization platform, which, by the way, also celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. We facilitate the establishment of the polycentric world order from the BRICS position,” he listed.
Putin said he was very glad to see and talk to his Chinese counterpart.
“The no easy coronavirus situation does not allow us to meet personally, but we keep working – our colleagues and you and me – and keep in touch,” Putin said.
The treaty was concluded on July 16, 2001, following talks between President Vladimir Putin and the then Chinese leader Jiang Zemin. In the treaty, the two sides declared the intention to build relations on the basis of equal strategic partnership in accordance with the universally recognized norms of international law and the principles of mutual respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity, non-aggression, non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, equality, mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence.
Russia and China reaffirmed the pledge not to be the first to use nuclear weapons against each other and not to target strategic nuclear missiles against each other.
Should either country be faced with a threat, Russia and China will promptly contact each other for consultations.