❕Key takeaways from statements by Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at a joint news conference in Beijing:

Xi Jinping:

▪️China and Russia uphold the world order based on international law

▪️Beijing and Moscow intend to deepen political mutual trust, adhering to the non-alignment principle

▪️Relations between China and Russia have overcome difficulties to become even stronger over the past 75 years

▪️China and Russia think that a political settlement is the right way to resolve the crisis in Ukraine

▪️Hegemony, power politics and bloc confrontation directly threaten the security of all countries

Vladimir Putin:

▪️Putin has called it symbolic that his first foreign visit after his re-election for a new term was to China

▪️The relations between Moscow and Beijing are an example of building ties between neighboring states

▪️Moscow is grateful to Beijing for suggestions on settling the situation in Ukraine

▪️Moscow and Beijing plan to deepen energy cooperation, both on hydrocarbons and in the peaceful nuclear energy

▪️Creating closed military-political alliances in the Asia-Pacific region (APAC) is harmful and counterproductive

❕Any use of Western weapons against peaceful Russian cities may trigger the use of more powerful weapons to protect Russian citizens, State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin has warned.

According to Volodin, attempts by Ukrainian lawmakers to get Washington’s okay to use US-supplied weapons to strike targets inside Russia risk causing a tragedy that “may affect everybody globally.”

Ukraine is seeking to drag the United States and Europe into “a larger war,” the speaker of the lower house of Russia’s parliament argues.

▶️ Guests of a concert marking the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Russia and China and opening China-Russia Year of Culture gather in the hall of the National Grand Theater of China.

Video: TASS

❗️Key takeaways from the joint statement signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping:

▪️Russia and China believe that the US Indo-Pacific strategy and NATO’s policies have a negative impact on the situation in the Asia-Pacific Region

▪️Russia and China will continue to strengthen military cooperation and expand the scale of joint exercises and military training

▪️Russia and China emphasize the importance of dialogue as the optimal form of settlement of the Ukrainian crisis while respecting the principle of indivisibility of security

▪️Moscow and Beijing will continue their work on the expansion of cooperation between the EAEU and China

▪️Russia and China warn the US and NATO against setting up military infrastructure in Afghanistan again

▪️Russia and China agreed to promote development of air travel

▪️Russia and China committed to boosting anti-plastic pollution efforts considering each country’s sovereignty

▪️Russia and China expressed their determination to develop tools to combat environmental pollution together with other states

▪️The US and NATO must take responsibility for Afghanistan’s current socio-economic difficulties

▪️China sees the Russian presidential election as open, impartial, with outcome highlighting broad popular support for Putin

▪️Russia and China will expand mutually beneficial cooperation in information and communications technologies

▪️The Sino-Russian relations’ development meets interests of the two countries’ peoples, the relations are based on good neighborliness, equality, support

▪️Russia and China will ensure channels of uninterrupted payments between economic entities

▪️Russia and China are against politicization of sports and athletes’ discrimination based on the national identity

▪️Russia and China oppose acts of provocation against North Korea by the US and its allies

▪️Russia and China condemn initiatives on seizure of foreign states’ assets and property

▶️ Police forces gathered outside the Armenian cabinet building where an opposition rally will be held, a TASS correspondent reports.

Video: Alexander Patrin/TASS

❕Highlights from the Russian Defense Ministry Press Briefing, May 16:

▪️Russian troops struck Ukraine’s Kraken and foreign legion units in the Kharkov Region, the enemy lost 205 troops

▪️Russian forces destroyed over 600 warplanes and 1,300 MLRS in the special military operation

▪️Russian forces wiped out a storage warehouse for Ukrainian unmanned surface vessels and struck the temporary stationing post of Ukraine’s GUR

▪️Russian air defenses downed three Ukrainian MiG-29 fighter jets over the past day

▪️Russia’s battlegroup West improved frontline positions and repulsed two Ukrainian counterattacks

▪️Russia’s battlegroup East took up better positions, causing Ukrainians to lose roughly 125 troops

▪️Russia’s battlegroup Center destroyed up to 390 enemy troops, two tanks, three infantry fighting vehicles, and two armored vehicles in the Donetsk People’s Republic

▪️Russia’s battlegroup South improved frontline positions and inflicted over 520 casualties on Ukrainian troops

▪️Russian air defenses destroyed 25 Ukrainian UAVs, 11 missiles, and five smart bombs