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Russia Celebrates Victory Day, World Leaders Flock to Moscow, Including Xi Jinping and Angela Merkel

May 10, 2015 

 

Fireworks in Moscow in celebration of Victory Day, May 9, 2015	Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel met in Moscow, May 10, 2015

Putin-Merkel meeting in the Kremlin, Moscow, May 10, 2015	Chinese President, Xi Jinping, greeted by Russian President in Moscow, May 9, 2015

President Puting and international leaders attend Victory Day Parade in Moscow, May 9, 2015 

 

Putin, Merkel Stress Need for Russian-German Cooperation

Sputnik,13:51 10.05.2015

MOSCOW (Sputnik) –

The Russian president said that Russia would seek to resolve problems that have a negative impact on the relations between Moscow and Berlin.

“We have done a lot to ensure that relations between Russia and Germany are developing successfully and have achieved a lot in this direction. There are various problems today [between Russia and Germany]. The sooner these problems end their negative effects on developing our relations, the better. We will strive for this,” Putin told Merkel in the Kremlin.

Merkel noted that Russia and Germany need to cooperate in solving the “difficult situations” between the two countries.

“We need to work, including in cooperation in difficult situations as they are now and strive to finding diplomatic paths [to solving them],” Merkel responded to Putin.

Along with several other Western leaders Angela Merkel decided not attend the Victory Day parade in Moscow marking 70th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany. Heads of nearly 30 foreign states and governments, however, arrived in Moscow the next day to honor the memory of millions of Soviet people who had been killed during World War II, as well as to hold a meeting with the Russian leader.

Earlier in the day, the two leaders took part in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier near the Kremlin walls in Moscow.

Putin and Merkel will discuss bilateral relations, as well as Russia-EU ties and the situation in Ukraine during their Sunday meeting in Moscow.

Sino-Russia Relations a Growing Threat to Euro Market

Sputnik/ Alexei Druzhinin, 12:24 10.05.2015

Martin Charmoy, head of Prosperity Capital Management fund in London, predicted that trade between Russia and China will reach $200 billion in the next several years.

Russia and China are quickly becoming close friends, a growing threat to European markets, Martin Charmoy, head of Prosperity Capital Management fund in London, said.

"China needs almost everything Russia produces, and Russia-produced consumer goods are affordable enough."

The analyst also predicted that trade between Russia and China will reach $200 billion in the next several years.

"Russia and China are becoming best friends," Charmoy concluded.

Meanwhile, the analysts said European companies that once were very successful in the Russian market are losing their positions due to sanctions and the geopolitical situation.

"However, Europe should be very careful because Russia is a very important market for it."

This week during the Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Moscow, a wide range of agreements in the trade, economic and energy fields were inked. The main issue on the agenda was an agreement to couple the Eurasian Economic Union and the Silk Road projects.

Last year, Russia’s gas-producing giant Gazprom and Chinese CNPC signed a deal to supply China with 38 billion cubic meters of gas per year over the next 30 years. The total sum of the contract is estimated to be $400 billion, the largest Gazprom contract ever. The gas price is attached to the oil price. The supplies are planned to start in four to six years.

Blooming Bromance: Russia-China Alliance Challenges US-Designed World Order

Sputnik/ Mikhail Mecel

Beijing and Moscow have increasingly found common basis in challenging the US and Western dominated order in Europe and Asia.

China and Russia are striking a number of deals to strengthen their military, financial and political ties in recent times.

Beijing and Moscow have increasingly found common basis in challenging the US and Western dominated order in Europe and Asia.

The recent sign of closer ties was seen with the announcements of the first joint naval exercises in the Mediterranean. Chinese National Defense Ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng said that Moscow and Beijing will for the first time hold joint naval drills in the Mediterranean Sea in mid-May 2015.

The purpose of the drills is to deepen bilateral friendly cooperation and strengthen the combat capability of the two countries in order to resist threats to maritime safety.

“Russia and China are now becoming, as we wanted, not only neighbors but deeply integrated countries,” Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin told reporters on a trip to the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou this week.

The two sides further discussed making China the “main partner” in a Russian program to establish a scientific station on the moon by 2024.

Similarly, Russia will be one of the biggest outside investors in China’s proposed development bank, The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

The Obama administration tried to undercut the proposed bank, but China views the AIIB as a way to diminish the regional influence of the World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB), where countries like the United States and Japan hold significant control.

China’s president is also going to be one of the most prominent leaders to attend the 70th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in Moscow’s Red Square on May 9.

Furthermore, western media made a remark of a budding “bromance,” between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

According to some key analysts the relationship between Moscow and Beijing is likely to move forward in a number of key areas.

China-Russia Cooperation is Changing World Order – Chinese Media

AFP 2015/ Stephen SHAVER, 16:29 19.04.2015

The Ukrainian crisis and Western sanctions accelerated the expansion of cooperation between Russia and China in the political, military and energy fields.

China's policy of openness and Russia’s East course are closely interconnected, with both countries having a lot in common and enjoying a historic opportunity for the further development of their bilateral relations, the China Times wrote.

Russian-Chinese relations underwent the most rapid development among three groups of partners (China-Russia, China-South Korea, Japan-India). The expansion of the cooperation between both countries was accelerated by the Ukrainian crisis and Western sanctions and is gradually becoming a threat to US domination, the newspaper wrote.

Russia and China expanded their ties in the political, military, energy, investment, humanitarian and technical fields. At the moment, the trade volume between the two countries amounts to $ 100 billion and is expected to double in the next five years.

In May, leaders of 26 countries, including China, India, Vietnam, North Korea and Mongolia will attend the Victory Day parade in Moscow. Additionally, Russia’s decision to join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank may reinforce the idea that Russian President Vladimir Putin is planning to strengthen cooperation with these very states.

Russia and China have already reached a consensus regarding the supply of Russian Su-35 fighters. The leaders of both countries are expected to declare their plans to hold joint naval exercises in the Black Sea during the next negotiations.

According to the newspaper, this means that Moscow and Beijing are taking a strategic position to confront the US in a “new era of the cold war.”

 

Xi attends Russia's V-Day parade, marking shared victory with Putin

MOSCOW, May 9, 2015 (Xinhua) --

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday attended a grand military parade held in Moscow to mark the 70th anniversary of the victory of the Great Patriotic War, Russia's term for World War II (WWII).

Xi, hosted by Russian President Vladimir Putin, was among more than 20 leaders of countries, regions and international organizations to attend the commemorative event.

President Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan were welcomed by Putin at the Kremlin on Saturday morning. Accompanied by Putin, Xi, together with other distinguished guests, walked to Red Square and ascended to the reviewing stand to watch the Victory Day parade.

At 10:00 a.m. (0700GMT), the commemorative event began. Eight guards of honor marched into Red Square carrying Russia's national flag amid the WWII-themed song -- "the Sacred War".

Russian President Vladimir Putin (front) and Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu take part in the military parade marking the 70th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War in Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2015. (Xinhua/Pavel Bednyakov)

Delivering a speech at the event, Putin said the victory of the Great Patriotic War was decisive for the WWII and saved Europeans from Nazi Fascism.

He noted in particular that China was the main battlefield in Asian countries' resistance against militarism in WWII, sacrificing millions of lives.

The Russian president stressed that the commemoration today is meant to build a peaceful and tranquil future based on equality and non-alignment among countries.

Guard of honor of the Russian Army take part in the military parade marking the 70th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War, in Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2015. (Xinhua/Jia Yuchen)

Amid Russia's national anthem and rumble gun salutes, the grand parade started. About 15,000 servicemen, marched into Red Square proudly in many formations.

In the historical part, Russian soldiers of three services wearing the uniforms which servicemen wore in 1940's and holding military flags of the patriotic war, goose-stepped into the Red Square, as a reminiscence of the war time experience.

In the modern part of the parade, Russia's military regiments of three services as well as the military equipment formations passed by the reviewing stand, as jets roared overhead.

The guard of honor of the three services of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) take part in the military parade marking the 70th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War in Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2015. (Xinhua/Pavel Bednyakov)

China's guards of honor, consisting of 102 members, joined the parade and marched through the Red Square.It was the first time for Chinese soldiers to participate in Russian Victory Day parades. Xi waved to them.

Xi then walked with other leaders to the nearby Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to lay red flowers in salute to the soldier who sacrificed lives in the WWII.

May 9 is the Victory Day of Russia's Great Patriotic War. The Soviet Union made great contribution in the fight against the German Fascist forces in the European theater, which cost the Soviet Union 27 million lives.

China's participation in Victory Day parade at Moscow's Red Square               

MOSCOW, May 9, 2015 (Xinhua) --

 The guard of honor of the three services of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) will make its official debut on Saturday at a Victory Day parade at Red Square in Moscow.

The 112-member PLA guard of honor arrived here late April and started training and rehearsing for the parade marking the 70th anniversary of the victory of World War II.

The Chinese soldiers are between 18 and 34 years old and all at least 6 feet 2 inches tall.

China and Russia, two major battlefields in WWII, made historical contributions to the eventual defeat of fascist forces.

China's participation in the parade, a landmark event in China-Russia military exchanges, shows the strength of bilateral ties and their resolve to safeguard world peace.

Nine other countries -- Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Serbia and Tajikistan -- also dispatched their military units, all in 70-strong formation, to Russia.

In previous rehearsals for the event, the uniformed Chinese servicemen strode forward in strict formation with a valiant posture and synchronized steps, drawing applause from both their foreign counterparts and Russian audience.

During a night rehearsal on April 29, the Chinese soldiers marched with famous Russian song "Katyusha" as background music in a show of respect to veterans of the Great Patriotic War, the Russian term of WWII.

As a matter of fact, it is the fifth time that the PLA guard of honor has marched on foreign soil.

In 2013, the Chinese guard of honor marched in Mexico City in a military parade marking the 203th anniversary of Mexico's independence and the 100th birthday of the Mexican Army.

Also in Mexico, a 34-member Chinese team staged a stunning performance at the host country's independence bicentennial in 2011, the first time for PLA honor guard to participate in a military parade abroad.  

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