During their summit meeting on May 20th in Beijing, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping exchanged warm praise as the two leaders discussed a range of topics and outlined directions for bilateral cooperation.
"One day without seeing each other feels like three years" is a line of poetry that Putin recited during the talks to express his joy at meeting Xi Jinping again, while also praising the Russia-China relationship as being at an "unprecedented high level".
During the subsequent tea party, President Xi quoted the Chinese proverb "Those who persevere in their work will surely succeed, those who keep moving forward will surely reach their destination," expressing his belief that Sino-Russian relations would continue to maintain high-quality development and reach new heights.
The two leaders signed a joint statement on further strengthening "comprehensive partnership and strategic coordination," along with another document aimed at promoting a "multipolar world order."
Strengthening strategic strongholds
Speaking at the signing ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Xi Jinping emphasized that China and Russia must continue to be "each other's strategic strongholds," and pledged closer cooperation in areas such as AI and technological innovation.
President Xi also emphasized that China and Russia need to act as "responsible powers," opposing all forms of unilateral bullying and actions that go against the course of history.
Speaking after the Chinese leader, President Putin affirmed Moscow's readiness to maintain a continuous supply of oil and gas to Beijing, while describing bilateral trade as a shield protecting the two countries from "external influences" and instability in global markets.
Henrik Wachtmeister, a researcher at the China Centre of the Swedish Institute of International Relations, argues that Putin's biggest takeaway from the visit was the assurance of a deeper political alliance between China and Russia, at a time when both countries are increasingly at odds with the West.
The meeting took place just four days after US President Donald Trump's state visit to China. China welcomed Putin with similar protocol to Trump, demonstrating Beijing's balancing act in its relationship with Washington and Moscow.
In a recent commentary, Dmitry Trenin, Chairman of the Russian Council on International Affairs, emphasized that Moscow does not want to become a "subordinate partner" of Beijing. "It is important to maintain an equal footing in relations with China and to remember that Russia is a great power," Trenin wrote.
President Xi invited President Trump to Zhongnanhai, China's "heart of power." When welcoming President Putin, Xi invited the Russian president to a one-and-a-half-hour tea ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Yuri Ushakov, the Kremlin's foreign policy advisor, stated that the tea ceremony was the "most important event" of the visit, as the friendly atmosphere was ideal for discussing sensitive issues.
Statements from China clearly show Xi Jinping's efforts to secure his position as a "global diplomatic powerhouse" against partners they view as equals, such as the US and Russia, according to Temur Umarov, an expert at the Carnegie Center for Russia and Eurasia, based in Berlin.
President Putin assessed his visit to China as effective and yielding many positive results. The two sides signed at least 20 agreements in the fields of trade, technology, and expanded cooperation.
China is currently Russia's largest trading partner and purchases nearly half of its exported oil. Chinese companies are also playing an increasingly important role in supplying Russia with consumer goods, industrial equipment, and dual-use technologies—items that Western officials believe are contributing to the maintenance of Moscow's defense industrial base.
"Structurally, the Russia-China relationship is very stable, and that seems unlikely to change," Umarov observed.
The gas mega-project failed to achieve a breakthrough.
The two leaders signed agreements aimed at strengthening strategic and economic ties between the two countries. However, after two days of work, the state visit to China did not help President Putin achieve his expectations regarding the Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline mega-project.
This is a multi-billion dollar project that Russia considers vital for redirecting gas exports to China after the latter was subjected to a series of sanctions and cut off from much of the European market due to its campaign in Ukraine.
Western sanctions have made the relationship between Russia and China significantly more unbalanced, particularly in the energy sector.
Since the Nord Stream pipeline under the Baltic Sea was paralyzed, Russia has pushed to complete the Power of Siberia 2 pipeline project, which is expected to transport 50 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year from western Siberia to China via Mongolian territory.
Russia expects Power of Siberia 2 to help offset lost revenue from the European market. According to Remi Bourgeot, an economist at the French Institute for International Relations and Strategy in Paris, the benefits for Russia come not only from gas sales but also from a "multiplier effect on Russian pipeline construction companies or steel producers."
However, China appears to be in no hurry and is aggressively negotiating the price of gas in this mega-project. Russia's urgent need for revenue has given China the upper hand in the negotiations.
"The problem is that the Chinese side has clearly negotiated to get a lower price than what European countries had offered for Russian gas. This is perfectly understandable, as Russia currently has few options," Bourgeot commented.
Go Katayama, a gas analyst at Kpler, suggests that China, recognizing Russia's weak negotiating position after losing the European market, has been trying to negotiate steep discounts tied to domestic benchmarks. Meanwhile, Russia needs higher prices to offset the costs of building the massive pipeline infrastructure, Katayama explains.
The two sides have gone through many rounds of negotiations, and Putin has repeatedly sought to push this mega-project forward during his visits to China. A memorandum of understanding signed in September 2025 between Russian oil and gas giant Gazprom and its Chinese partners has been described by Chinese officials as a major breakthrough, but it is not a final, binding agreement.
The outbreak of hostilities in Iran and the resulting disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz were seen by Moscow as an opportunity to convince Beijing that supplementing gas supplies via pipelines from Russia would help China reduce its dependence on these vulnerable shipping lanes.
However, the outcome of the talks in Beijing showed that Russia was not as successful as expected. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the two sides had reached "basic agreements" on the route and method of pipeline construction. However, he did not provide further details and acknowledged that there was no specific timeline for this mega-project due to "a few minor obstacles that still need to be overcome."
Key details regarding the project's start or completion timeline remain unresolved, and the Beijing summit produced no public statement on Power of Siberia 2.
The joint statement following the meeting only briefly stated that Putin and Xi "agreed to further deepen the comprehensive partnership in the energy sector," and to "strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation in the oil, gas, and coal sectors."
The failure of both sides to achieve a breakthrough on the Power of Siberia 2 project has shown that the bilateral relationship is gradually losing its core balance. "Russia needs revenue from trade far more than it needs China for its energy," expert Wachtmeister noted.
"Russia has very few alternatives for its energy buyers and is forced to sell oil at a discount due to sanctions," he further analyzed. "Meanwhile, China has many more suppliers and possesses a much larger scale of economy."
Russia remains China's largest pipeline gas supplier thanks to the Power of Siberia 1 pipeline, which began operations in 2019 under a 30-year, $400 billion agreement.
However, China is also increasing its imports of liquefied natural gas from Australia and Qatar, in order to avoid dependence on a single source of supply.
The next major increase in Russia's gas export capacity to China is expected in 2027, when the Far East pipeline becomes operational and gradually increases deliveries. If the Power of Siberia 2 project goes ahead, China will likely have to reduce its gas imports from other partners.
Michael Kimmage, director of the Kennan Institute, a Washington-based think tank, argues that this is why Beijing remains unlikely to rush into committing to a new major pipeline project with Moscow.
China has spent years diversifying its energy import sources, alongside increasing domestic oil and gas production and rapidly expanding renewable energy sectors such as solar and wind power.
"In some ways, Russia is the solution to China, but it's a very slow solution and possibly too slow, especially if the war in Iran is resolved in the next few months," Kimmage assessed.
Source: https://baohatinh.vn/ong-putin-dat-duoc-gi-tu-chuyen-tham-bac-kinh-post311012.html
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