Putin ‘Is My Best, Most Intimate Friend,’ Xi Says

Mr Putin arrived for a three-day state visit during which he will attend the Qingdao Summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation on the weekend. Trump said in Washington as he was departing for the summit in Canada.

Putin expressed great thanks for Xi awarding China’s first Friendship Medal to him, saying that it is not only the highest honor given to himself, but also reflects the high level of Russia-China comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination, as well as Chinese people’s profound friendship towards Russian people.

Putin previously gave Xi some fancy neckware- the Order of St Andrew the Apostle-in 2017.

“The American president may not mind being isolated, but neither do we mind signing a six-country agreement if need be”, Macron said, adding that U.S. workers would be the first to suffer from a trade war between Europe and the US. “That is not good for us nor for any of our friends in the world”, Macron tweeted.

For the next phase, the three sides should deepen political mutual trust and strategic coordination, enhance mutual support, respect the core interests of each other, take into consideration each other’s major concerns, strengthen coordination and cooperation in regional and worldwide affairs, and steer the course of trilateral cooperation politically, Xi stressed.

Asked for his impression of the Chinese leader for life, Putin said Xi was “approachable and sincere”, as well as “perhaps the only state leader who has celebrated my birthday with me”. China’s gold-and-blue friendship medal “adopts elements including a peace dove, the Earth, a handshake and a lotus, while the chain features elements such as Chinese knots, evergreens, peonies, a jade disc and orchids”, according to the Global Times description. They include China, Russia along with four ex-Soviet Central Asian nations, as well as India and Pakistan.

“Why are we having a meeting without Russian Federation in the meeting?”

Russian Federation was removed from the G-8, or Group of Eight, in 2014 following the occupation and annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.

Trump, who made tearing up the deal a central platform of his 2016 presidential campaign, followed through on that promise May 8 by pulling the US out of the agreement.

Joseph Liow Chin Yong, a professor of global politics at the S. Rajaratnam School of worldwide Studies in Singapore, contrasted the cooperative atmosphere of the SCO with the combative one surrounding the G-7 this year.

Conte said it was important that trade sanctions against Russian Federation do not hurt the country’s ordinary people, and said Italy was “totally dissatisfied” with the way immigration from Africa was being handled in the European Union.

“Justin has agreed to cut all tariffs and all trade barriers between Canada and the United States”, he joked, but also urged the Prime Minister to cut Mexico out of the troubled NAFTA talks – a suggestion already rejected by Mr. Trudeau.