No New Year's wish for US, France and German leaders: Putin

Moscow: Kremlin said on Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin would not pay New Year's wishes to US President Joe Biden, France's Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Agence France-Presse reported.

As the New Year's occasion, Putin has sent congratulatory messages to leaders of pro-Russian countries, including Turkey, Syria, Venezuela and China.

Kremlin said that he is not paying the same to leaders of the US, France, and Germany because of the unprecedented sanctions on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Russia is no longer in contact with the said countries. He added that Putin would not congratulate them on the hostile actions that these leaders are taking on a continuous basis.

In another development, Putin extended a bridge of cooperation towards Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday. He said that he wishes to strengthen the military cooperation between China and Russia to counter the Western union against them, Agence France-Presse reported.

Putin calls for the strengthening of political and military ties with China when the unprecedented Western sanctions have dampened Moscow's assault efforts on Ukraine to an extent.

For Beijing, the Russian invasion of Ukraine is a sensitive issue. Xi's government had decided to take a neutral ground over the largest conflict Europe has witnessed since the Second World War. But Beijing had offered diplomatic support to its strategic ally, Russia.

In a video, Putin called Xi "Dear Friend" and said that they aim to strengthen the cooperation between the armed forces of Russia and China. He then lauded the efforts Moscow and Beijing make to counter the "unprecedented Western pressure and provocations", AFP quoted.

It was on February 24, Russia initiated its offensive into neighbouring Ukraine.