China’s Xi and Russia’s Putin unite in criticism of US, but fail to clinch big gas deal

BEIJING – China and Russia condemned US President Donald Trump’s Golden Dome missile defence shield plans and Washington’s “irresponsible” nuclear policy at a joint summit on May 20, a week after President Xi Jinping hosted Mr Trump in Beijing.

The joint statement with Russian President Vladimir Putin served to underline that, while Mr Xi seeks stable and constructive relations with Mr Trump, he differs fundamentally with him on key issues where China’s position is closely aligned with Russia’s.

The statement said Mr Trump’s plan for a ground- and space-based missile interceptor system threatened global strategic stability and criticised Washington over the expiry of the treaty restricting US and Russian nuclear arsenals.

The treaty lapsed in February and Mr Trump did not respond to Moscow’s proposal to extend it by a year, after some US politicians argued that Washington needed to grow its arsenal to counter China, which says its buildup is far smaller.

Yet while speaking in unison on global security issues, the two leaders failed to reach a breakthrough that Moscow has long been seeking – a contract for a new pipeline that would enable it to more than double the amount of natural gas it sells to China.

Mr Xi was wrapping up a remarkable week of diplomacy in which he met the leaders of China’s most powerful strategic rival and one of its closest partners.

With Mr Trump seeking an exit from a war with Iran and Mr Putin’s forces largely bogged down in Ukraine, the summits provided China’s leader with a chance to showcase Beijing as a pillar of global stability and an indispensable diplomatic player.

While the summit with Mr Trump was largely about managing tensions, the encounter with Mr Putin posed a different challenge – how to demonstrate progress in a relationship that the two sides have already proclaimed is “without limits”.

Mr Xi and Mr Putin, who have met more than 40 times, both stressed the closeness of the Russia-China ties that they sealed in 2022 with the signing of a strategic partnership treaty, less than three weeks before Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Moscow had signalled ahead of the visit that it was seeking further energy agreements with China, the largest buyer of Russian oil, including pipeline supplies and sea-borne shipments.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said China was interested in long-term Russian oil supplies and increasing volumes, which he said were up 10 per cent in four months.

Elusive gas deal

During Mr Putin’s last visit in September 2025, Russian gas giant Gazprom said both sides had agreed to move forward with Power of Siberia 2, a prospective 2,600km pipeline to carry 50 billion cubic metres of gas per year from Russia to China via Mongolia.

China has said very little publicly about the project.

While Mr Xi said on May 20 that cooperation in energy and resource connectivity should be the “ballast stone” in China-Russia relations, he did not mention the pipeline.

Key issues such as gas pricing remain unresolved, and analysts expect negotiations could take years.

The Kremlin said both sides had reached a “general understanding on the parameters” of the project, although no details or clear timeline were agreed.

Novak said Russia and China were finalising contracts for supplies via the pipeline.

Honour guard and gun salute

Mr Xi welcomed Mr Putin with an honour guard and a gun salute at the Great Hall of the People, as children waved Chinese and Russian flags.

Mr Xi said the countries should focus on long-term strategy and promote a “more just and reasonable” global governance system, according to Chinese state news agency Xinhua.

“China-Russia relations have reached this level because we have been able to deepen political mutual trust and strategic cooperation,” Mr Xi said.

Mr Putin said after the talks that Russian-Chinese ties had “reached a truly unprecedented level and continue to develop.”

Mr Putin also invited Mr Xi to visit Russia in 2027.

Both sides signed a statement on strengthening comprehensive strategic coordination and a declaration advocating multi-polarity in the world order.

“The global agenda of peace and development is facing new risks and challenges, with the danger of fragmentation of the international community and a drift back toward the ‘law of the jungle’,” a joint declaration said, according to the Kremlin. REUTERS