Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Beijing on Tuesday for a state visit to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The meeting, occurring just days after a high-profile visit by US President Donald Trump, was marked by pomp and pageantry in the Great Hall of the People, featuring a military band and children waving national flags. This visit, Putin's 25th to China, aimed to project unshakeable ties between the two powers.
During the talks, both leaders praised their relationship, with Putin describing cooperation as reaching an unprecedentedly high level and Xi calling the ties unyielding and at a historic high. The two leaders expressed a shared desire for a multipolar world order to challenge U.S. global dominance. The Kremlin stated that the discussions focused on economic cooperation as well as key international and regional issues, including the wars in Ukraine and Iran.
A primary focus of the visit was energy security, specifically the long-stalled Power of Siberia 2 natural gas pipeline, which could carry 50 billion cubic meters of Russian gas annually to China. While Russia hoped Middle East conflict turmoil would make China more flexible in price negotiations, some reports indicate the talks failed to make progress on the project. Additionally, President Xi called for a halt to fighting in the Middle East and took a veiled swipe at United States policies.
The summit concluded with the signing of a series of bilateral commitments and an invitation from President Putin for President Xi to visit Russia next year. The visit served as a means for Moscow to seek reassurance that Beijing had not drifted toward Washington following the recent US summit.