If Moscow doesn’t end its war with Ukraine, ‘Russia is going to be in big trouble,’ Trump said while signing executive orders on Jan. 20.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Jan. 21 held a virtual meeting in which they pledged to strengthen the two regimes’ relationships further in 2025.
Putin and Xi declared a partnership that has “no limits” on Feb. 24, 2022, less than three weeks before the Russian leader ordered an invasion of Ukraine. Since then, the two neighbors have ramped up cooperation in the face of mounting pressure from the West.
During their latest video call, the two leaders began by exchanging warm wishes for the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year, which falls on Jan. 29 this year.
Xi told Putin that the two countries should deepen their strategic cooperation and support for each other and protect the interests of both countries, according to the summary of the meeting released by Chinese state media Xinhua.
Addressing Xi as his “dear friend,” Putin described ties between Moscow and Beijing as “self-sufficient,” stating that “they do not depend on any domestic political factors or the current global situation,” according to a
statement issued by the Kremlin.
Putin also highlighted Russia’s close economic cooperation with China, citing Beijing’s
customs data that bilateral trade soared to $245 billion in 2024. He noted that Russia ranked fifth among China’s trade partners.
The Xi–Putin exchange came just hours after President Donald Trump was inaugurated. During his presidential campaign, Trump
indicated his intention to end the war in Ukraine quickly.
While signing a series of executive orders in the Oval Office on Jan. 20, Trump
told reporters that a meeting with Putin “could be very soon.”
When asked about whether he plans to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Trump said that he would, noting that Russia’s invasion has put Moscow in a difficult situation.
“He told me he wants to make a deal; Zelenskyy wants to make a deal. I don’t know if Putin does; he might not,” the president replied.
“I think [Putin] is destroying Russia by not making a deal. Russia is going to be in big trouble. You take a look at their economy. You take a look at the inflation in Russia.
“I got along with [Putin] great and ... I would hope he wants to make a deal.”
Putin, while congratulating Trump on entering the office, also expressed his willingness to engage in talks with the new U.S. administration on various security issues, including the Russia–Ukraine conflict.
“Moscow is open for dialogue with the United States that will be built on an equal and mutually respectful basis,” Putin
told a meeting of Russia’s Security and Defense Council on Jan. 20.
Before returning to the White House, Trump
spoke with Xi on the phone. According to China’s summary of the meeting, the two leaders discussed a range of major international and regional issues of mutual interest, including the Russia–Ukraine conflict.
In a social media statement, Trump confirmed that they touched on topics such as trade, fentanyl, TikTok, and others.
The United States, European Union, and other Western nations have long
accused the Chinese regime of supplying machine tools, chips, and other materials that have both civilian and military uses to help rebuild Moscow’s defense sector.
In October 2024, the
Treasury imposed the first sanctions on two China-based companies for “directly developing and producing complete weapons systems in partnership with Russian firms.”
