Xi hails 'deepening' trust between China, Russia as he meets Putin

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday hailed "deepening" trust with Russia as he sat down with President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin.

"The political mutual trust between China and Russia is becoming deeper, and the ties for pragmatic cooperation are becoming stronger," Xi said, visiting Moscow for Russia's May 9 celebrations of the World War II defeat of the Nazis.

Xi said Beijing would stand with Moscow in the face of "hegemonic bullying".

"In the face of the international counter-current of unilateralism and hegemonic bullying behavior, China will work with Russia to shoulder the special responsibilities of major world powers," Xi told Putin.

Putin for his part told Xi that relations between Moscow and Beijing benefit both nations and were not in opposition to others.

"We are developing our ties for the benefit of the peoples of both countries and are not opposed to anyone," Putin told Xi.