Beijing, Apr 11 Communication between the leaders of Russia and China is of a confidential nature, there is a special «chemistry» between the two heads of state, Grigory Zhigarkov, First Secretary of the Russian Embassy in China, said in an interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin's translator at a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Moscow.
On March 20-22, Xi Jinping made a state visit to the Russian Federation — the first one since being re-elected as President of the PRC. On the first day, he and the President of the Russian Federation talked one on one for about 4.5 hours. On March 21, Xi Jinping held talks with Putin in the Kremlin in various formats for about six hours. As a result of the visit, the leaders of the countries signed two statements. Putin and Xi Jinping called the meeting a success.
Grigory Zhigarkov's first experience of high-level translation took place during Vladimir Putin's visit to Beijing in 2016. In 2023, Grigory was specially seconded from Beijing to Moscow to provide «linguistic support» for the visit of the Chinese leader.
According to Zhigarkov, a special personal «chemistry» has developed between Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping. «Most of all, the close interpersonal contact between our leaders is striking. Their dialogues are mutually respectful, confidential. When we say that diplomacy of leaders plays a key role in Russian-Chinese relations, these are not empty words. This is true. some personal chemistry,» he said.
As Zhigarkov noted, Vladimir Putin knows firsthand the intricacies of working with the language, appreciates the pace of work and knows the value of time. «He perfectly understands the difficulties the translator faces. It is very convenient and comfortable to work with him. He himself speaks at an average pace, but, I must say, he requires a higher pace from the translator. But you get used to it pretty quickly, you adapt. The protocol itself does not exclude the possibility of personal communication between the interpreter and the president. But I did not have such conversations with him. Everything is arranged in such a way as to organize the schedule of the first person as competently as possible,» he said.
Nevertheless, according to Zhigarkov, a number of difficulties sometimes arise in the course of work. Vladimir Putin very often uses expressions that are difficult to translate in his speech: proverbs, quotes and sayings, many are incomprehensible to a different mentality. The same can be said about the President of the People's Republic of China, who often resorts to references to the classics. “Our president often refers to cultural images from Russian or Soviet classics. He uses a large number of proverbs, sayings, colloquial expressions. For example, “These are some soft-boiled boots!”, “Let's dance from the stove,” or “Your own shirt is closer to the body «, — he said.
Zhigarkov noted that the recent visit of the President of China to Moscow turned out to be politically significant and eventful in terms of the program. In terms of protocol, he was also top notch.
«Oddly enough, for an interpreter, the issue of logistics is of great importance, which directly affects our work. From this side, the visit was not the most difficult. It took place at the home site, the events were concentrated in one geographical location. So those who provided these contacts, including translators, were not supposed to solve a number of technical issues,» Zhigarkov said.
He noted that during visits of this magnitude, as a rule, more than one or two interpreters work. “This is a whole team from each side: someone works in a simultaneous booth, someone translates at protocol events. In this case, it was a state dinner, where contacts take place not only at the highest level, but also among members of delegations. sometimes he translates on the sidelines and at meetings in a tête-à-tête format. I was just lucky enough to speak in this capacity,» he added.
This format, according to Zhigarkov, involves consecutive translation. The conversation is conducted in a relaxed, natural way, which is always easier for translation. But even here there are «pitfalls». «This kind of trusting contacts imply the possibility of a conversation on a wide range of topics. Our leaders are people with a solid outlook. You never know what might be discussed. In this regard, constant immersion in the information field, constant work with the language helps,» he added. he.