Chinese President Xi Jinping hailed ties with Russia during a video call with Vladimir Putin as he urged deeper cooperation a day after Donald Trump’s inauguration as U.S. president.
Xi said he’s willing to work with his Russian counterpart to take bilateral relations to new heights and to respond to “external uncertainties,” the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported Tuesday.
The two leaders declared a “no-limits friendship” just weeks before Putin launched his 2022 invasion of Ukraine, with China since becoming a diplomatic and economic lifeline for Moscow after the U.S. and its allies imposed sweeping sanctions.
“Both sides should deepen strategic coordination, firming up mutual support and safeguarding the legitimate interests of the two countries,” Xinhua cited Xi as saying. The president also touted growing bilateral trade last year and agreed to maintain strategic communication, the news service said.
Russia’s trade with China in the first 11 months of last year grew by 7% and exceeded $220 billion, despite “negative external circumstances,” Putin said during the call.
The two leaders talked a day after Trump was sworn in as U.S. president for a second time. Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said the call, which lasted 95 minutes, was planned in December and had no connection with Trump’s inauguration, Interfax reported.
Putin and Xi discussed Ukraine, relations with the U.S. and the situation in the Middle East, while the Russian leader invited his counterpart to attend the Victory Day parade in Moscow on May 9, the Russian news service said.
The Russian and Chinese leaders met several times in 2024 and have said that relations are “at their best in history.” They have also vowed to intensify cooperation against U.S. “containment” and seek a larger role for the Global South on the world stage.
— Foster Wong / Bloomberg News, with assistance from Vladimir Kuznetsov.
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