A few days after Donald Trump’s visit, Vladimir Putin doesn’t want to stay out of the picture. And now it’s the Russian president’s turn to fly to Beijing to meet President Xi Jinping, reaffirming Russia’s very close bond with China, Moscow’s main commercial and diplomatic partner, formally neutral towards the war against Ukraine. Everyone at the court of Xi Jinping, who confirms himself the most influential world leader, the most decisive from the point of view of the current geopolitical balance, with which the leaders of other powers must necessarily deal and which they cannot ignore.
The Russia-China alliance is not “directed against anyone”, as the two countries work for “universal peace and prosperity”, making an important contribution to the resolution of global and regional issues. These are the statements of the Kremlin leader, reported by the Russian news agency Tass. «The close strategic relationship between Russia and China plays a fundamental stabilizing role at a global level. Relations between Moscow and Beijing have reached an unprecedented level, which is reflected in their willingness to support each other on key issues, including the protection of sovereignty.”
“It is in this spirit that Moscow and Beijing act in a coordinated manner to defend international law and the provisions of the United Nations Charter in their entirety, completeness and interconnectedness,” Putin said in a video message on the eve of the visit to Beijing.
Meanwhile, Moscow has announced that the Russian military will begin three days of nuclear weapons exercises today involving thousands of soldiers across the country. “From 19 to 21 May 2026, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation will conduct an exercise on the preparation and use of nuclear forces in the event of a threat of aggression,” the Defense Ministry said.
At the meeting between Putin and Xi Jinping on Wednesday 20th a large Russian delegation will arrive, with eight ministers, the governor of the Central Bank, directors of state enterprises, presidents of banks and executives of industrial groups, confirming that the bilateral summit has as its main objective the strengthening of the strategic partnership between the two countries. As Russian presidential advisor Yuri Ushakov stated, under discussion will be the construction of the Power of Siberia 2: a gas pipeline that will connect the fields of western Siberia to northern China, guaranteeing Beijing the supply of 50 billion cubic meters of gas per year. The structure should join the Power of Siberia 1, in operation since 2019. Mammoth infrastructures that respond to Moscow’s new energy strategy, after the start of the large-scale war against Ukraine – with the opening of new routes and expansion towards the east, after the introduction of European sanctions following the aggression against Ukraine in 2022.
