Putin, Xi ties are as solid as ever after decade of trade deals and US antagonism

Russia and China spent centuries eyeing each other with suspicion. Now, after ten years of energy deals, joint military drills, and one brutal invasion, they’re looking more like business partners than old enemies.

What started as a slow diplomatic handshake between Putin and Xi has evolved into a full-body bro-hug that’s making Washington nervous and Tokyo even more so.

The two authoritarian states first built up ties slowly after the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, then more openly after the 2008 financial crisis. Both leaders saw those events as signs that American leadership was overrated.

But it wasn’t until 2014, when Russia seized Crimea and got hit with sanctions, that the alliance really took shape. China quickly filled the economic gap left by the West. It bought up Russian oil, gas, and weapons.

Russia sold China its most advanced military systems, including $5 billion worth of S-400 missiles and SU-35 fighter jets.

Putin and Xi coordinate energy, war, and diplomacy

The two leaders have met at least 40 times. In 2019, Xi called Putin his “best friend.” They’ve been photographed making dumplings together in Tianjin and flipping pancakes in Vladivostok. When Xi started his third term in 2023, he picked Moscow for his first foreign trip.

When Putin got re-elected for a fifth term in May 2024, he returned the gesture by flying to Beijing first. They said in a joint statement that relations between their countries were “experiencing the best period in their history.”

At a massive Red Square military parade in Moscow in May 2025, Xi stood beside Putin as Chinese troops marched in celebration of the 80th anniversary of World War II’s end.

They later issued a new warning about the global order, saying “a critical mass of problems and challenges has accumulated in the strategic sphere, and the risk of nuclear conflict has increased.”

That same year, Gazprom’s CEO revealed a new deal for a second Power of Siberia pipeline (this time cutting through Mongolia), connecting Russian gas directly to China.

The original $400 billion Power of Siberia pipeline, signed in 2014 just months after Crimea, had already shifted Russia’s energy exports away from Europe. This next one could upend global gas flows even further.

Trade isn’t the only area where they’ve teamed up. At the United Nations Security Council, Russia and China now regularly block U.S.-led resolutions.

In 2023, they released a joint statement rejecting Western definitions of democracy, saying, “each country has the right to define whether it’s a democracy or not.”

When Putin invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Xi didn’t criticize it either. Instead, he blamed the U.S. and NATO for creating the conditions for war. During a face-to-face in Uzbekistan that September, Putin admitted China had “questions and concerns.” But Beijing didn’t back off. China kept buying oil. Kept selling components. Kept its arms open while Western firms ran for the exits.

In 2024, NATO leaders accused China of being a “decisive enabler” of the war. Xi’s government denied it was supplying weapons, saying it controlled exports with potential military use. But U.S. officials weren’t buying it.

They said China’s support helped Russia keep fighting. Even with Trump back in the White House, that pressure didn’t ease. During a summit in Alaska, Trump asked Putin for a ceasefire. He said no. Trump didn’t follow through on more sanctions.

Tensions between the U.S. and India also gave Xi and Putin an opening. Just this last weekend, they hosted Narendra Modi at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Tianjin. Trump had just hit India with tariffs for buying Russian oil.

Modi didn’t back down. Instead, he smiled for cameras with Xi and Putin, who both seized the moment to tighten ties with another frustrated U.S. ally.

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