PRESIDENT Xi Jinping has hailed the “unyielding” ties between China and Russia – just days after Donald Trump left Beijing without any major breakthroughs on the Middle East.
The Chinese leader met Vladimir Putin on Wednesday as the two sought to underline the strength of their alliance.
Vladimir Putin travelled to China this week to meet with ally Xi Jinping Credit: AP
Donald Trump left China last week without any breakthrough on the war in Middle East Credit: AP
Russia has been weakened by years of war in and sweeping Western sanctions, which have piled pressure on the Kremlin’s revenues.
This has only deepened Moscow’s reliance on China – the biggest buyer of Russian .
At the same time, the US conflict with has disrupted oil and flows, giving Putin an opening to pitch Russian energy supplies as an alternative.
Experts believe the Russian president could use the trip to push the long-delayed “Power of Siberia 2” gas pipeline.
Xi took the opportunity to praise the ‘unyielding’ ties between China and Russia Credit: AFP
Putin has visited China every year since being left out in the cold by the West Credit: AP
This would carry fuel from to through Mongolia as a land-based alternative to crude shipped through the Middle East.
Meeting at the Great Hall of the People in , the pair praised their countries’ close partnership as they extended their treaty of “friendly cooperation”.
and have “continuously deepened our political mutual trust and strategic coordination with a resilience that remains unyielding”, Xi told the Russian leader, according to Chinese state media.
Putin declared relations between the two countries had reached an “unprecedentedly high level” despite “unfavourable external factors”.
“Interaction between such nations as China and Russia undoubtedly serves as a factor of deterrence and stability,” Putin said.
“Moscow welcomes Chinas dialogue with the US as another stabilizing element for the global economy.
“We stand only to benefit from this, from the stability and constructive engagement between the US and China.”
In a thinly veiled swipe at the US, Xi also warned of “unilateral and hegemonic countercurrents running rampant”.
Russia-China ties have deepened since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
has visited Beijing every year since being shunned by the West.
Patricia Kim, of the Brookings Institution, said Putin’s visit was unlikely to match the lavish spectacle of Donald Trump’s recent trip to China.
“The Xi-Putin relationship does not require that kind of performative reassurance,” she said.
Both Putin and see ties between their countries as “structurally stronger and more stable” than relations between China and the US.
Beijing has repeatedly called for talks to end the war in Ukraine, but has stopped short of condemning Russia for sending in troops.
With Moscow increasingly reliant on energy sales to China to sustain its war effort, Putin does not want to lose that support.
Russia has sought to capitalise on the global energy crisis triggered by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Russia’s top diplomat Sergei Lavrov said Moscow could “compensate” for China’s energy shortages as conflict in the Middle East disrupted global supplies.
China, by contrast, is keen to see the conflict brought to an end as quickly as possible.
During talks with Vladimir Putin, Xi warned that further hostilities in the Middle East were “inadvisable” and stressed that a “comprehensive ceasefire is of utmost urgency”.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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