China and Russia have condemned U.S. President Donald Trump’s Golden Dome missile defence ​shield plans and Washington’s “irresponsible” nuclear policy at a joint summit on Wednesday.

Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin said this in a statement, a week after President Xi Jinping hosted Mr Trump in Beijing.

According to them, Mr Trump’s plan for a ground- and space-based missile interceptor system posed a threat to global strategic stability.

Xi and Putin, who have met more than 40 times, both stressed the closeness ​of the Russia-China ties that they sealed in 2022 with the signing of a strategic partnership treaty.

For Xi, it capped a remarkable week of diplomacy in which he set out to showcase China ​as a pillar of stability in a world rocked by trade wars and military conflicts in Iran and Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the summit with Mr Trump was largely about managing tensions between the world’s two most powerful countries, the meeting with Mr Putin was on how to demonstrate progress in a relationship that the two sides have already proclaimed “without limits”.

Moscow signalled ahead of the visit that it was seeking further energy agreements with China, the largest buyer of ​Russian oil, including pipeline supplies and sea-borne shipments. 

(Reuters/NAN)