Speaking to reporters at the end of talks with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, Putin said that the two nations see the need to “lead the way in building a reliable and adequate security architecture in the Asia-Pacific region without closed political-military alliances.”

The Chinese leader, in turn, cited “Cold War mentality, unilateral hegemony, bloc confrontation, and power politics” among the dangers that currently threaten international peace and security.

Putin’s visit to China takes place on May 16-17 and is his first trip abroad since he was re-elected and officially began his fifth term as president.

Russian-Chinese negotiations were held in Beijing on Thursday with Presidents Putin and Xi in the lead.

The two-hour-and-half talks ended with the signing of several documents.

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