Russian President Vladimir Putin is heading to Beijing on Tuesday, for a two-day visit with ministers, officials and business leaders.
The trip comes days after Chinese leader Xi Jinping hosted US President Donald Trump in Beijing, putting Moscow in the position of seeking reassurance that China’s efforts to stabilize ties with Washington will not weaken its partnership with Russia.
According to the Kremlin, Putin’s delegation includes senior ministers and executives from major Russian companies, with talks expected to focus on bilateral cooperation, energy, and international issues.
Reassurance after the Trump-Xi summit
Putin’s first priority will be to assess Beijing’s diplomatic positioning after Xi’s meeting with Trump. The US-China summit produced no major breakthroughs, but it did reinforce efforts to manage tensions over trade, Taiwan and the Iran crisis.
For Moscow, the concern is whether China’s push for stable relations with the West could come at Russia’s expense. Beijing has continued to deepen ties with Moscow while also trying to maintain working relations with Washington.
A push for energy deals
Energy will be central to the visit. Putin is expected to press Xi on the long-delayed Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline, a project that would carry Russian gas through Mongolia to China. Moscow has sought the deal for years as it looks to redirect energy exports away from Europe.
But Beijing holds the stronger hand. China can demand lower prices and favorable terms while Russia faces sanctions, shrinking access to Western markets, and growing pressure on its oil and gas revenues.
Military and technology ties
Putin will also seek to sustain the flow of trade and technology that has helped Russia weather Western sanctions. China has become Russia’s leading trading partner since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, supplying goods and components that can support Moscow’s defense industry.
The visit also marks the 25th anniversary of the 2001 Sino-Russian Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation, giving both sides a symbolic platform to present their relationship as stable and strategic.
An unequal partnership
Officially, Moscow and Beijing describe their relationship as a “privileged” strategic partnership. Ahead of the visit, Putin said Russia and China were ready to support each other on issues including sovereignty and national unity.
In practice, the balance increasingly favors Beijing. Russia needs Chinese markets, technology and diplomatic cover far more than China needs Russia.
Facing mounting pressure at home, Moscow is also dealing with the impact of Ukrainian long-range strikes on its energy sector. President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday that Ukraine’s strikes had cut Russian oil refining by 10 percent in recent months and forced some Russian oil companies to shut down wells.
According to the Ukrainian leader, Russia’s state budget deficit in the first five months of the year had already exceeded what Moscow had planned for the entire year, with several Russian regions already facing financial collapse.
“Putin is leading Russia toward bankruptcy,” Zelensky said.