HANGZHOU. Sept 5 (Interfax) - Russia supports the Chinese position of non-recognizing the ruling by an international tribunal in The Hague over disputed islands in the South China Sea, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday.
"We are in solidarity with, and support China's position on this issue of non-recognizing this court ruling," Putin told reporters after the G20 summit in the Chinese city of Hangzhou.
The Russian position is "not political but purely legal, since any arbitration proceedings must be initiated by the contending parties while the arbitration is there to hear the contending parties' arguments and positions," Putin said.
Nevertheless, on this issue, "The Hague arbitration did not turn to China and no one listened to its [China's] position there," he said.
Russia's position of non-interfering in the territorial dispute in the South China Sea is invariable, Putin said. "We believe that interference by any non-regional power will only damage the process of resolving these issues," the Russian leader said.
Putin also said that Chinese leader Xi Jinping never asked him to comment on the situation around territories in the South China Sea.