Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin exchanged congratulatory letters on Sunday, setting the stage for Putin’s visit to Beijing this week. This diplomatic exchange comes just days after former U.S. President Donald Trump’s high-stakes meeting in China. According to Chinese state media, Xi highlighted the continuous deepening and solidification of bilateral cooperation between Russia and China, which marks the 30th anniversary of their strategic partnership this year. Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov announced that Putin is scheduled to arrive in China on Tuesday evening and will meet with Xi on Wednesday. Discussions are expected to cover all areas of bilateral relations, including the proposed Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline.
The back-to-back visits of U.S. and Russian leaders to China have garnered significant attention, as it is quite rare in the post-Cold War era for a single country to host leaders from both nations within such a short timeframe. China’s increasingly close relationship with Russia has raised concerns in the West, particularly after Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Western diplomats and analysts argue that China’s economic and diplomatic support for Russia has played a role in sustaining the conflict. Since 2022, China has become a major buyer of Russian exports, purchasing over one-quarter of them, including significant amounts of crude oil. These transactions have provided Moscow with substantial revenue to fund its war efforts in Ukraine.
Data from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air indicates that China has bought more than $367 billion worth of Russian fossil fuels since the conflict began. This has bolstered China’s energy security, especially after disruptions in the Middle East affected oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. Notably, the Ukraine war and the Sino-Russian relationship were not heavily featured in Trump’s recent discussions with Xi. Instead, their talks focused on trade, Taiwan, and Middle Eastern tensions. Trump stated that China agreed on the importance of reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Xi, on the other hand, emphasized Taiwan’s potential for conflict if not handled properly, as Trump left Beijing undecided on a significant U.S. arms deal to Taiwan.
Joseph Webster, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, noted in a newsletter that Taiwan might be the underlying theme of the Xi-Putin meeting. He suggested that Beijing might seek to secure more fossil fuel agreements with Moscow to ensure energy supplies in case of a future conflict. Expanding Russian oil pipeline capacity to China could significantly enhance Beijing’s oil security in a potential Taiwan crisis, according to Webster. Meanwhile, Russia has been encouraging China to proceed with the Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline, which would expand the network’s capacity by 50 billion cubic meters between the two nations.