appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Shi Jiangtao

Laura Zhou

Russian President Vladimir Putin will travel to the Chinese capital next week to reinforce the Sino-Russian “comprehensive strategic partnership”, just days after a tentative US-China reset.
Beijing and Moscow announced on Saturday that Putin would visit from May 19 to 20, confirming an earlier report by the South China Morning Post.
“At the invitation of President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin will pay a state visit to China from May 19 to 20,” state news agency Xinhua reported, citing the foreign ministry.
During the trip, Putin and Xi would discuss how to “further strengthen the comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation” between Moscow and Beijing, the Kremlin said.
The two leaders were also expected to “exchange views on key international and regional issues” and sign a joint declaration at the conclusion of their talks, it added.
As part of the visit, Putin is also scheduled to hold separate talks on economic and trade cooperation with Premier Li Qiang.
Putin has made more than 20 trips to China and has met Xi more than 40 times. The Kremlin said on Friday that preparations for the visit, Putin’s first foreign trip of the year, were completed.
The trip will take place less than a week after US President Donald Trump’s visit to China and observers said the rapid back-to-back summits showed Beijing’s efforts to engage both Washington and Moscow amid global uncertainties and persistent tensions, including the wars in Ukraine and Iran.


Zhao Long, a senior research fellow at Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, described Putin’s visit as “a key window of opportunity” for bilateral ties.
He pointed out that 2026 marks the 30th anniversary of the China-Russia strategic partnership and the 25th anniversary of the Treaty of Good‑Neighbourliness and Friendly Cooperation.
“Putin’s visit is expected to address the treaty’s renewal and, at this historic juncture, explore how to carry out cooperation at a higher strategic level to respond to external turbulence and change, and to deepen pragmatic cooperation,” he said.
Zhao downplayed the sequencing with Trump’s trip, calling it largely “a coincidence in timing” due to the postponement of the US president’s China trip from March.
Putin’s visit, he noted, had already been closely coordinated earlier this year as part of routine leadership exchanges.
Still, hosting both leaders within days allowed Beijing to project diplomatic influence, while maintaining ties with competing global actors, Zhao said.
“It is clear that for China, stabilising relations with the US and deepening strategic cooperation with Russia are not mutually exclusive choices. Both are part of maintaining overall stability in major‑power relations,” he said.
The two trips are also expected to be quite different. While Trump’s trip was awash with ceremonial pomp, Putin’s visit is expected to focus on aligning the two countries’ positions on geopolitical developments.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier that the Russian leader’s visit would be “substantive” because the two sides had attached “the utmost importance” to it.


However, all three countries have at least one area of overlapping interest.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One after the meetings with Xi, Trump confirmed that Russia was part of the agenda and said he had proposed a nuclear arms control deal.
“I raised a potential three‑way nuclear deal among the US, Russia and China. I got a very positive response. This is the beginning,” Trump said.
He described Moscow’s nuclear arsenal as a shared concern for Washington and Beijing.
Trump also confirmed that Russia’s war in Ukraine was part of the discussions in Beijing, linking it to nuclear stability and broader global security.
China has consistently positioned itself as neutral in the Ukraine war, calling for dialogue while refraining from condemning Russia’s 2022 invasion.
Beijing has also denied Western allegations that it is supplying Moscow with military support, instead criticising US and European arms deliveries to Ukraine as prolonging the conflict.
Against that backdrop, analysts said Putin’s visit was likely to reinforce the strategic alignment between Moscow and Beijing, which has deepened significantly through regular high-level summits and exchanges since Western sanctions isolated Russia economically.
Driven by a shared wariness of US hegemony, China has emerged as a crucial partner, particularly as the largest buyer of Russian oil and gas, helping cushion the impact of those sanctions.
Zhao noted that close leader-level interaction had elevated ties to their highest level in history.
“By contrast, China-US relations are only now attempting to establish a new framework of stability through Trump’s visit,” he said. “Unlike the US-China relationship, China-Russia ties have already developed a mature and resilient system of interaction, guided by top-level design and strategic leadership through head‑of‑state diplomacy.”
Mark Katz, a professor emeritus at George Mason University and a global fellow at the Wilson Centre in Washington, cautioned against overstating Russia’s importance to Beijing.
However, Katz noted, “Chinese officials have made clear, though, that the defeat of Russia is not in Chinese interests”, warning that Putin’s faltering war in Ukraine could push Moscow towards instability or even collapse.


According to Zhao, the two sides might sign a series of cooperation documents in areas such as energy security, transport security, and supply‑chain resilience, jointly working to maintain stability in their shared regional environment.
“This also highlights how China and Russia, as major powers with global influence, can contribute positively to world stability,” he said.
Other possible topics include the stalled US-Iran peace negotiations and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which has disrupted global energy markets and raised fears of a global economic recession.
Russia owns some of the world’s biggest reserves of natural gas and oil, and the energy shock stemming from the US-Israel war on Iran, as well as the surge in oil prices, appears to have strengthened Moscow’s standing, at least in the short-run.
Since the Ukraine war began, Sino-Russian trade has flourished, with Beijing ramping up purchases of Russian oil, coal and gas and exporting major goods such as cars and electronics to its northern neighbour.
Bilateral trade stood at US$228.1 billion last year, with Russia posting a trade surplus of US$21.49 billion, marking a 55 per cent increase from 2024, according to official figures from China.
However, their stronger economic ties have drawn criticism from the West, which has accused Beijing of offering an economic lifeline to Moscow amid its armed conflict with Kyiv.
Moscow has also been pushing for a deal to build the Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline, which would carry up to 50 billion cubic metres of gas annually from Russia’s Yamal peninsula to northern China via Mongolia.
During Putin’s last visit to Beijing in September, Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller said a memorandum of understanding had been signed with China National Petroleum Corporation concerning the pipeline.
In December, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said preparations to sign commercial agreements on the pipeline were “at the final stage”.


What China really means when it says it’s being ‘strategic’

Trump signs bill targeting China’s Russia energy imports days before Xi’s US visit

China pushes back against US sanctions bill targeting Russia’s top energy buyers

Power of Siberia 2 pipeline talks stall over China-Russia price dispute: sources

China-Russia relations

After China-US reset, Putin heads to Beijing for Sino-Russian strategic refresh

Russian President Vladimir Putin has visited China more than 20 times. Photo: Kremlin Pool Photo via AP

Privacy screens and police dogs: how Beijing is preparing for Trump’s visit

While there has been no official confirmation of where the US leader will stay in China, the Four Seasons Hotel Beijing has begun installing additional security screening equipment. Photo: Four Seasons Hotel Beijing

Workers are seen carrying out preparation work at the Four Seasons Hotel Beijing on May 12, 2026, ahead of US President Donald Trump’s visit to China. Photo: Alcott Wei

After nearly 9 years, Trump is landing in a totally different China. Is he ready?

 Illustration: Henry Wong

Why China-Russia ties are ‘better than alliance’ and immune to US containment efforts

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping speak during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Tianjin, China, in September 2025. Photo: Reuters

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov meets Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of a Group of 20 gathering in Johannesburg, South Africa, in February 2025. Photo: AFP

Are China and Russia flexing their maritime muscle near Japan?

China’s Type 055 guided-missile destroyer, designated “Renhai-class” by Nato, is a cruiser-sized vessel with robust air-defence, anti-submarine and surface-warfare capabilities. Photo: Handout

China’s Type 052 destroyer is equipped with advanced radars and electronics comparable to the US Aegis system, as well as a 64-cell vertical-missile launcher. Photo: Handout

Japanese Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi (right) and his Indonesian counterpart Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin inspect an honour guard before their meeting in Jakarta on Monday. Photo: EPA

News

China

Diplomacy

Latest trip could allow leaders to align positions on recent geopolitical developments days after Donald Trump’s high-profile visit


Latest trip could allow leaders to align positions on recent geopolitical developments days after Donald Trump’s high-profile visit.


After China-US reset, Putin heads to Beijing for Sino-Russian strategic refresh

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Latest trip could allow leaders to align positions on recent geopolitical developments days after Donald Trump’s high-profile visit

Latest trip could allow leaders to align positions on recent geopolitical developments days after Donald Trump’s high-profile visit