The two leaders discussed maintaining their growing ties in times of international instability.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping have held a video call to discuss ways to increase cooperation, maintain strategic stability and manage their relationship with the United States.
The call comes as many Western countries are exploring potential opportunities with China following US President Donald Trump’s calls for tariffs and the annexation of Greenland from NATO ally Denmark.
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Both the British and Canadian prime ministers visited Beijing last month, and the German chancellor is expected to visit this month.
Putin described the foreign policy relationship between the two nations as “an important stabilizing factor amid the growing turmoil in the world”. extract made public by the Kremlin on Wednesday.
Russia and China will continue to coordinate closely on global and regional agendas “in bilateral and all multilateral frameworks”, including the United Nations, the BRICS alliance of economies and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, where he said “Russian-Chinese tensions play an essential role”.
Putin said the two countries had forged an “exemplary comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation” and reaffirmed Russia’s “firm support” for their efforts to ensure “the sovereignty and security of our two countries, their social and economic prosperity and the right to choose their own development path”.
Speaking through an interpreter, Xi called on the countries to formulate “grand plans” to advance bilateral ties, which he said are moving in the right direction.
“Both sides should take advantage of this historic opportunity, maintain high-level close exchanges and strengthen practical cooperation in various fields,” China’s state broadcaster CCTV was quoted as saying.
US relations
Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said Putin has accepted President Xi’s invitation to visit China in the first half of 2026, Reuters news agency reported. Xi visited Russia in May last year.
Putin and Xi exchanged views on their countries’ relations with the United States, Ushakov said, adding that they were “practically identical” with their assessment of Trump’s so-called “Peace Circle” initiative in Gaza.
“Russia and China stand for equal and mutually beneficial cooperation based on international law and the Charter of the United Nations,” Ushakov said.
Putin earlier thanked Trump for his invitation to join the peace talks and said Moscow would consider it.
China has not directly commented on the Peace Council, other than saying it was invited to join. Asked about Trump’s new organization to replace the UN in Gaza, Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said China would support the international system centered on the UN no matter how the international landscape changes.