China is not required to use force in order to reach its “reunification with Taiwan” goals, according to the Russian President Vladimir PutinThis was Wednesday.

Chinese President Xi JinpingAfter a week of tensions, he pledged to achieve his goal of peacefully bringing Beijing under the control of the democratically-run island nation of 24 millions people.

China views Taiwan as an independent province. Taiwan, however, sees Taiwan as its own country. Taiwan has ruled Taiwan since 1949, when it was separated from China following a long civil war.

Taiwan’s President TsaiIngwen has responded in a speech SundayShe announced that her government will invest in strengthening its military capability to show “our determination to defend ourselves.”

At the Russian Energy Week conference, in Moscow on Wednesday, Putin spoke to Hadley Gamble of CNBC. He cited Xi’s remarks suggesting a peaceful unification and China’s philosophy of statehood to indicate that there are no threats to military confrontation.

China is not required to resort to force. China is an extremely powerful country, and China in terms purchasing parity is number one now in the world,” said the Russian president, as per a translation.

China can achieve its national goals by increasing its economic power. There are no threats to my safety.”

Putin also spoke out on the tensions in relations regarding South China Sea. Russia attempted to remain neutral towards China’s claims to huge swathes surrounding waters.

“There are conflicting interests in South China Sea. But the Russian position rests on the fact we must provide an opportunity to all countries within the region without any interference from non-regional forces to have a real conversation that is grounded on fundamental norms international law,” he stated.

“It should consist of negotiations. This is how we should settle any disputes. And I believe that there’s a possibility for that. But it has not been fully utilized so far.”

Clarification