Vladimir Putin RSVPs for Beijing Olympics, ignoring Biden’s boycott

Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed in a video call on Wednesday that he would not be participating in a “diplomatic boycott” of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in China by Western countries.

Putin said during a one-hour video chat with Chinese President Xi Jinping that he looked forward to traveling to Beijing in February for the opening ceremony, adding that he expected the Games to run smoothly because Chinese organizers “know how to do it.”  

President Joe Biden announced last week that no U.S. officials would be attending the Beijing Olympics, citing China’s poor human rights record and aggressive policies in the region. Only a few close allies, such as Canada, Britain, and Australia, plan to join the diplomatic boycott, while others, like France, Argentina, and South Korea, have rejected the idea.

The video-call is a signal of Russia-China unity amidst high tensions between both countries and the West. Beijing has been under fire for human rights abuses, such as its brutal crackdown of Uyghurs in Xinjiang and its treatment of Peng Shuai, a Chinese tennis player, which led to the Women’s Tennis Association suspending all tournaments in the country.

Moscow has escalated border disputes with NATO in Europe by amassing more than 100,000 troops on the border it shares with Ukraine, which led to Western countries threatening “massive consequences” if Russia chose to invade. Putin is trying to deter the alliance from expanding east or placing weapons systems in neighboring Ukraine.

In a briefing after the call, Russian officials said that China supports Moscow’s security concerns. A Kremlin aide told reporters that Xi “underlined that he understands the Russian concerns and fully supports our initiative about working out such security guarantees for Russia.”

Chinese media reported that the video call was the second for Mr. Putin and Mr. Xi this year and their 37th meeting since 2013.