Furthermore, a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the aborted rebellion by Wagner an "internal affair."
"As Russia's friendly neighbor and comprehensive strategic partner of coordination for the new era, China supports Russia in maintaining national stability and achieving development and prosperity," said the spokesperson in a statement. (Related: Russia and China pledge friendship, denounce the West.)
In its own statement, Russia's Foreign Affairs Ministry acknowledged the Chinese statement: "The Chinese side expressed support for the efforts of the Russian leadership to stabilize the situation in the country in connection with the events of June 24 and reaffirmed its interest in strengthening the cohesion and further prosperity of Russia."
These statements come after the Wagner Group, a paramilitary organization led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, started a 24-hour rebellion that was able to take control over several cities and towns in Russia. This short-lived mutiny culminated in an attempted march toward Moscow with the goal of taking over the city.
This march was halted after Prigozhin accepted a deal from the Kremlin for him and his mercenaries being given safe passage to Belarus where they will remain in exile. In exchange, Russian authorities would drop all criminal charges against Prigozhin and his fighters.
This day-long rebellion was extensively covered by Chinese state media, with state-owned media outlet Xinhua News Agency publishing a Chinese-language article that Russian "representatives from all parts of the nation, dignitaries and religious leaders strongly condemned the incident, and clearly stated that they stood on the side of the Russian federal government, stability and peace."
"China will support Russia while stressing no interference of its internal affairs," said prominent Chinese commentator and military expert Song Zhongping. "Prigozhin realizes that it is difficult to achieve the desired results through this rebellion."
Other Chinese media outlets ran a variety of articles discussing the event, including analyzing scenarios the uprising could lead to, including regime change. However, Chinese Communist Party-owned Global Times noted that the hyping up of the mutiny among the West was meant to create an "illusion" that Russia has many internal contradictions and "the building is collapsing," which is part of an attack by Western media meant to undermine Russia.
Chinese State Councilor and Minister of Foreign Affairs Qin Gang and Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu recently held talks with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko, tackling bilateral relations and "international and regional issues of common concern," according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
During this meeting, Ma vowed to defend both nations' common interests in the face of a "complex and grim" international environment, and Rudenko promised to continue working together with China "to consistently strengthen" relations.
Furthermore, Ma noted how mutual political trust between Beijing and Moscow has been steadily growing under the leadership of Presidents Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin.
Both sides also "highly praised the current state of Russia-China relations," according to the Russian Foreign Ministry, adding that the meeting also served as an avenue for discussing "prospects for further strengthening foreign policy coordination and cooperation between Moscow and Beijing at multilateral platforms."
Visit RussiaReport.news for more stories regarding the conflicts embattling the Russian state.
Watch the video below discussing Yevgeny Prigozhin's short-lived rebellion.
This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com.
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