Russian President Vladimir Putin has hailed Moscow and Beijing’s deepening ties as a “stabilising” force on the world stage ahead of talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
In an address ahead of a two-day visit to China that begins on Tuesday, May 19, 2026, Putin said that Moscow and Beijing do not wish to align against any other country but work together for “peace and universal prosperity.” “It is in this spirit that Moscow and Beijing coordinate efforts to defend international law and the principles of the UN Charter in their entirety,” Putin said.
Putin added that Russia and China also support cooperation “within the framework of the UN, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, BRICS, and other multilateral platforms, making a significant contribution to addressing pressing global and regional issues.”
According to the Russian President, Moscow-Beijing relations have developed to an “unprecedented level,” with the sides now supporting each other on such fundamental matters as the “protection of sovereignty and national unity.”
“Russia and China look confidently towards the future, actively developing cooperation in politics, economics, defence, expanding cultural exchanges, and fostering interpersonal interaction, in essence, jointly doing everything to deepen bilateral cooperation and advance global development for the wellbeing of both nations.”
Vladimir Putin
Putin and Xi, who have met dozens of times in an official capacity, have ramped up their economic and diplomatic cooperation in recent years amid Moscow’s international isolation due to its 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
According to the Mercator Institute for China Studies, two-way trade between Russia and China more than doubled from 2020 to 2024, reaching $245bn.
Russia’s exports to China largely consist of oil, gas and coal, shipments that provide Moscow with an economic lifeline amid international sanctions. China supplies Russia with a wide array of manufactured goods, including machinery, vehicles, electrical equipment and textiles.
Alexander Korolev, a senior lecturer in international relations at UNSW in Australia, said Putin and Xi would use their summit to strengthen their partnership at a time when both their countries face strategic pressures.“For Russia, the visit demonstrates that it retains high‑level political access and economic partners despite Western pressure,” Korolev told Al Jazeera.“For China, it reaffirms that the relationship with Russia remains a reliable pillar of its strategic environment.”“The visit also highlights Beijing’s foreign policy agency and the fact that China’s foreign policy stands on its own and is not shaped by others’ preferences,” Korolev added.
Putin To Meet Xi On Wednesday
Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to arrive in China on Tuesday evening ahead of talks with Xi on Wednesday, May 20, 2026.
The summit, the second face-to-face meeting between the leaders in less than a year, comes as Russia and China are widely seen as being increasingly aligned in challenging the United States’s standing as the dominant power in world affairs.
This week’s visit is Putin’s 25th to China in his more than two decades as President – a period in which China and Russia have tightened cooperation across trade, security and diplomacy, driven by a shared mistrust of Washington and an apparent personal affinity between Putin and Xi, who typically refer to each other as “dear” or “old” friends. The two have met more than 40 times.
Putin’s visit, which is timed to mark the 25th anniversary of the sides’ Treaty of Good-Neighbourliness and Friendly Cooperation, also comes just days after Xi and US President Donald Trump wrapped up a two-day summit in Beijing.
Trump and Xi’s summit, a follow-up to talks held in South Korea in October, featured warm rhetoric and pageantry but produced few concrete agreements on the many issues of contention between the sides, including trade, AI, Taiwan and the US-Israel war on Iran.
Xi’s recent meeting with Trump, the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, as well as their cooperation across energy, trade, and security are all expected to be part of the discussions between the two leaders set for Wednesday.
There are questions of whether they have any interest in being involved in a peace process, with Tehran previously voicing interest in China and Russia taking up the role of security guarantors.
Playing a role in ending the conflict could potentially win each goodwill with the United States, but would be navigated cautiously by both leaders as they protect their own partnerships, interests and global ambitions.
Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said earlier this week that the leaders are also set to tout their aligned worldview in a declaration on “establishing a multipolar world” and a “new type of international relations.”
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