China’s Xi Spoke With Russia’s Putin on 3rd Anniversary of Ukraine War

In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russian President Vladimir Putin holds a videocall with Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow on Jan. 21, 2025. Gavriil Grigorov/ POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Chinese leader Xi Jinping spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Feb. 24, marking the second publicly known exchange between the two leaders this year.

Meanwhile, world leaders gathered in Kyiv to commemorate the third anniversary of the Russia–Ukraine war, a conflict that has claimed the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians alike.

The exchange also took place amid ongoing efforts by the United States to swiftly resolve the war, sparking speculation that the Trump administration might shift its focus toward countering threats from communist China.

According to Beijing’s summary of the call, Xi told Putin that China and Russia are friends that will always stand by each other.

The Kremlin said Putin and Xi discussed how to expand cooperation between their countries in areas such as the economy and investment during the “lengthy telephone conversation.”

Putin also updated Xi on recent contacts between Russia and the United States, according to the Kremlin.

In 2022, Putin and Xi declared a partnership that has “no limits” during Putin’s last trip to China, for the Beijing Winter Olympics. The two leaders issued a lengthy joint document in which Russia endorsed the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) territorial claims on self-ruled Taiwan, and Beijing backed Moscow in opposing the further enlargement of NATO, a key justification for its war with Ukraine.

Less than three weeks after the trip, Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine. Since then, the two neighbors have repeatedly reaffirmed their close ties in the face of mounting pressure from the West.

On Jan. 21, hours after Donald Trump was sworn in for a second term as president of the United States, Xi held a phone call with Putin. During that conversation, the two leaders pledged to strengthen their countries’ relationship further in 2025.

Outside analysts have highlighted the imbalance in the two regimes’ partnership, with many arguing it’s heavily tilted in favor of the CCP.

“China appears to be the biggest beneficiary of this war in Europe,” Chung Chih-tung, an expert in European security at Taiwan’s state-funded Institute for National Defense and Security Research, previously told The Epoch Times.

As Russia grapples with sanctions imposed by Washington and Brussels, China is seizing the opportunity to purchase Russian oil, natural gas, and other essential raw materials at low prices, while flooding the Russian market with a wide array of Chinese products, according to Chung.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance has suggested that Russia’s growing alignment with communist China may not serve its own interests.

“It’s not in Putin’s interest to be the little brother in a coalition with China,” Vance told The Wall Street Journal earlier this month.

“There are economic relationships and economic ties, of course, that exist between the Russians and the Chinese. There are, of course, a lot of opportunities in the future for relationships between Russia and the West.”

Trump is expected to host French President Emmanuel Macron at the White House later on Feb. 24, as part of his administration’s efforts to negotiate a peace agreement to end the Ukraine conflict.