Putin visits China to reaffirm Russia ties as Xi also seeks steadiness with Trump

BEIJING (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived Tuesday evening in China for meetings with Chinese chief Xi Jinping decrease than a week after U.S. President Donald Trump wrapped up his have day out to Beijing.

Putin’s plane landed in Beijing, the build he modified into as soon as greeted by Chinese International Minister Wang Yi and an honor guard, as well to youths in light blue shirts waving Chinese and Russian flags and chanting, “Welcome, welcome, warmly welcome!”

His two-day discuss over with is possible to be closely watched as Beijing seeks to defend trusty family with america whereas also keeping solid ties with Russia.

The Kremlin has said Putin and Xi opinion to keep up a correspondence about financial cooperation between the two worldwide locations, nonetheless also “key worldwide and regional components.” The controversy over with coincides with the twenty fifth anniversary of the Sino-Russian Treaty of Friendship signed in 2001.

China is a key buying and selling partner for Russia, especially after Moscow’s pudgy-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Beijing has said it is honest within the battle whereas affirming alternate ties with the Kremlin despite financial and monetary sanctions by the U.S. and Europe.

Putin said in a video take care of released earlier than his discuss over with that bilateral ties are at “a if truth be told exceptional level” and the connection performs a really crucial role globally, China’s legitimate Xinhua News Agency reported Tuesday.

There would possibly perchance be “no connection” between the visits by Trump and Putin, presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said Monday, noting the day out by the Russian chief modified into as soon as agreed upfront, several days after Putin and Xi spoke by process of videoconference on Feb. 4.

“The Trump discuss over with modified into as soon as about stabilizing the enviornment’s most well-known bilateral relationship; the Putin discuss over with is about reassuring an extended-standing strategic partner,” said Wang Zichen, deputy secretary-long-established for the Beijing-primarily based entirely ponder tank Center for China & Globalization. “For China, these two tracks are now now not mutually irregular.”

Putin and Xi call one one more ‘buddy’

Putin closing visited China in September 2025 to abet the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Tianjin, gape a protection force parade honoring the eightieth anniversary of the pause of World Battle II, and defend talks with Xi.

At the time, Xi known as his counterpart an “outmoded buddy ” whereas Putin addressed Xi as “dear buddy.” In China, “outmoded buddy” is a really rare diplomatic time period ancient by the authorities and celebration to characterize liked foreigners.

In April, Russian International Minister Sergey Lavrov visited Beijing and met Xi, who described the bilateral relationship as “precious” within the recent worldwide context. Xi said China and Russia wished to offer a enhance to and defend their shared interests.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said over the weekend that Putin’s day out also would allow Russia to receive negate updates and alternate views with China on its talks with the U.S.

Precise via Trump’s discuss over with, Xi described the bilateral relationship between the U.S. and China as the enviornment’s most well-known and said they would possibly perchance presumably merely accrued gape one one more as partners moderately than opponents. By the pause of the two-day summit, the worldwide locations said they would work on a contemporary framework to defend watch over “a optimistic China-U.S. relationship of strategic steadiness.”

Wang of the guts for China & Globalization seen, “Beijing wants trusty family with the West, persevered strategic belief with Moscow, and sufficient diplomatic room to mark itself as an honest foremost vitality in a position to talking to all sides.”

China is Russia’s foremost alternate partner

For some, Putin’s discuss over with is meant to make stronger the partnership between Russia and China that has bolstered in recent years.

China has develop to be Russia’s top buying and selling partner following the starting up up of the battle in Ukraine, and is the tip buyer for Russian oil and gasoline supplies. Moscow expects the battle in Iran to magnify the quiz. China also has disregarded requires from the West to conclude providing excessive-tech parts for Russia’s weapons industries.

Ushakov, the Russian presidential aide, said Russia’s oil exports to China grew by 35% within the well-known quarter of 2026 and that Russia is some of the largest exporters of natural gasoline to China.

Precise via “the crisis within the Center East,” Russia stays a authentic vitality dealer and China is a “accountable user,” Ushakov said.

Putin worthy earlier this month that Moscow and Beijing enjoy reached “a really extensive step ahead in our cooperation within the oil and gasoline sector.”

“Virtually the total key components were agreed upon,” he said. “If we succeed in finalizing these crucial sides and bringing them to a conclusion at some stage in this discuss over with, I would possibly perchance be extremely pleased.”

Putin also praised their bilateral relationship as a really crucial, balancing force in worldwide family.

“Interaction between such worldwide locations as China and Russia undoubtedly serves as a part of deterrence and steadiness,” he said.

Moscow welcomes China’s dialogue with the U.S. as one more stabilizing remark for the worldwide financial system, Putin added.

“We stand handiest to take pride in this, from the steadiness and optimistic engagement between the U.S. and China,” he said.