Putin slams US boycott of Beijing Olympics, calls it 'attempt to curb China's growth'

Lambasting US for its diplomatic boycott of Beijing Winter Olympics 2022, Russian President Vlimir Putin on Thursday said that American move is a “mistake” and an “unacceptable” decision. While speaking at annual conference, Putin stressed that he has always been against politicisation of sports and noted that US boycott of Beijing Winter Games is aimed to curb China’s development. 

“This decision is unacceptable and erroneous. I spoke with a former US president, and he told me that boycotts of Olympics in Los Angeles and Moscow were a big mistake, me by United States as well. But United States continues to do very same mistake. What caused that exactly? It is an attempt to curb China's growth", Putin stated.

"y cannot hold back development of China. Chinese economy is alrey larger than US economy in terms of purchasing power parity. China will inevitably become world's top economy in all or respects. But you have to understand this", he ded.

Russia, China 'jointly making high-tech weapons'

Putin, who significantly touted Russia’s relations with China at annual conference on Thursday, h also said that both sides are “jointly making high-tech weapons”. Putin said Russia and China are jointly working to develop state-of--art weapons. Touting relationship between both countries, Putin said that strategic ties are a “stabilising factor on global stage".

“ Chinese Army is largely equipped with most vanced weapons systems. We even develop individual high-tech weapons [such as aircraft and helicopters] toger", Putin stressed, citing that both countries are even collaborating in space and aviation sectors.

He furr said that Russia and China also “develop cooperation between armed forces", which includes "joint military exercises" and "participation in international war games" as well as "joint patrolling at sea and in air". Separately, Russian President even touted his relations with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping as a “very trustful personal relationship” that also “helps in business”. 

(IMAGE: AP)