Putin: Russia hasn't made any 'U-turns' toward Asia, policy based on long-term agreements

ST. PETERSBURG, June 4. /TASS/. Russia has not made "any U-turns" toward Asia, since its foreign policy and interaction with China are based on long-term agreements, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with the heads of leading global news agencies organized by TASS.

"Regarding the results of our interaction [with China], I would like to draw attention to the following. In recent years, especially after the start of the events that are still ongoing in the Ukrainian direction, there has been increasing talk that Russia has made a turn towards Asia, that it has changed its policy. Russia has not changed anything and has not made any U-turns," the Russian leader emphasized.

"After all, the agreement that underlies our interaction and serves as the basis for achieving today's results, which are impressive. According to various statistics, our trade turnover is somewhere around $250 billion. Powerful diversification is taking place. But when did this begin? In 2001. We signed this basic agreement in 2001," he added.