Now ‘friends of steel’: Xi and Putin meet in Moscow

[ad_1] The leaders of China and Russia vowed to deepen their “strategic partnership” in a present of solidarity in Moscow on Thursday, casting themselves as defenders of the world order.

Russian President Vladimir Putin performed host to Chinese language President Xi Jinping on the eve of a navy parade marking the eightieth anniversary of the tip of World Struggle II in Europe.

The 2 sides signed a joint assertion to “additional deepen the great strategic partnership of cooperation within the new period between China and Russia.”

Their assembly comes three years after Putin ordered an invasion of Ukraine, triggering the deadliest battle in Europe because the World Struggle II.

It additionally got here as Taiwan’s president, in Taipei, marked the World Struggle II anniversary by making broad comparisons between threats to European peace and aggression from China.

<img data-chromatic="ignore" alt="Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te" class="c-image" loading="lazy" src="https://www.rfa.org/resizer/v2/Q3WRA6UO2BA4NHIQW3EOYZLUJY.JPG?auth=5df02539d1718a4ac710e13c0c92ac5d7c0cfa8493aeefd21995efbcc2b87d76&width=800&height=533" srcset="https://www.rfa.org/resizer/v2/Q3WRA6UO2BA4NHIQW3EOYZLUJY.JPG?auth=5df02539d1718a4ac710e13c0c92ac5d7c0cfa8493aeefd21995efbcc2b87d76&width=274&height=182 274w, https://www.rfa.org/resizer/v2/Q3WRA6UO2BA4NHIQW3EOYZLUJY.JPG?auth=5df02539d1718a4ac710e13c0c92ac5d7c0cfa8493aeefd21995efbcc2b87d76&width=400&height=266 400w, https://www.rfa.org/resizer/v2/Q3WRA6UO2BA4NHIQW3EOYZLUJY.JPG?auth=5df02539d1718a4ac710e13c0c92ac5d7c0cfa8493aeefd21995efbcc2b87d76&width=768&height=511 768w, https://www.rfa.org/resizer/v2/Q3WRA6UO2BA4NHIQW3EOYZLUJY.JPG?auth=5df02539d1718a4ac710e13c0c92ac5d7c0cfa8493aeefd21995efbcc2b87d76&width=1024&height=682 1024w, https://www.rfa.org/resizer/v2/Q3WRA6UO2BA4NHIQW3EOYZLUJY.JPG?auth=5df02539d1718a4ac710e13c0c92ac5d7c0cfa8493aeefd21995efbcc2b87d76&width=1440&height=959 1440w" width="800" height="533"/> FILE PHOTO: Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te holds a press convention in Taipei FILE PHOTO: Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te holds a press convention in Taipei, Taiwan February 14, 2025. REUTERS/Ann Wang/File Photograph (Ann Wang/Reuters) President Lai Ching-te instructed diplomats: “Authoritarianism and aggression lead solely to slaughter, tragedy, and better inequality.” He added that Taiwan – a self-governing island that China claims as its personal - and Europe had been “now dealing with the specter of a brand new authoritarian bloc.”

The assembly between Xi and Putin was the most recent show of solidarity in what they billed in 2022 as a “no-limits” friendship. Inside days of that declaration, Putin had launched a conflict in a sovereign nation - Ukraine – in a repudiation of worldwide regulation.

Whereas China has prevented offering overt diplomatic and navy assist for the invasion of Ukraine, it has thrown Russia an financial lifeline that has helped it navigate Western sanctions.

Xi’s China is dealing with its personal types of stress from the West, because the nation is now locked in a tariff conflict launched by U.S. President Donald Trump.

<img data-chromatic="ignore" alt="Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping attend a welcoming ceremony at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, May 8, 2025." class="c-image" loading="lazy" src="https://www.rfa.org/resizer/v2/B4QO6PN62RB2BOC6JLP67KIJZU.jpg?auth=bc1610c89bd424a3c836842025beaa690b001286e3129bba8579571de8aa72e3&width=800&height=527" srcset="https://www.rfa.org/resizer/v2/B4QO6PN62RB2BOC6JLP67KIJZU.jpg?auth=bc1610c89bd424a3c836842025beaa690b001286e3129bba8579571de8aa72e3&width=274&height=180 274w, https://www.rfa.org/resizer/v2/B4QO6PN62RB2BOC6JLP67KIJZU.jpg?auth=bc1610c89bd424a3c836842025beaa690b001286e3129bba8579571de8aa72e3&width=400&height=263 400w, https://www.rfa.org/resizer/v2/B4QO6PN62RB2BOC6JLP67KIJZU.jpg?auth=bc1610c89bd424a3c836842025beaa690b001286e3129bba8579571de8aa72e3&width=768&height=505 768w, https://www.rfa.org/resizer/v2/B4QO6PN62RB2BOC6JLP67KIJZU.jpg?auth=bc1610c89bd424a3c836842025beaa690b001286e3129bba8579571de8aa72e3&width=1024&height=674 1024w, https://www.rfa.org/resizer/v2/B4QO6PN62RB2BOC6JLP67KIJZU.jpg?auth=bc1610c89bd424a3c836842025beaa690b001286e3129bba8579571de8aa72e3&width=1440&height=948 1440w" width="800" height="527"/> china-xi-putin-russia Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese language President Xi Jinping attend a welcoming ceremony on the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Could 8, 2025. (Evgenia Novozhenina/AP) The Chinese language chief made veiled references to the USA in his remarks Thursday.

China and Russia ought to “be true mates of metal which were by way of 100 trials by hearth,” Xi instructed Putin. He additionally stated they'd work collectively to counter “unilateralism and bullying.”

Ja Ian Chong, affiliate professor on the Nationwide College of Singapore, stated the greater than 20 cooperation agreements signed by China and Russia on Thursday mirrored that, within the present geopolitical panorama, each China and Russia want one another’s help.

Sung Kuo-Chen, a researcher on the Heart for Worldwide Relations at Nationwide Chengchi College in Taiwan, stated Xi could also be involved that Trump – who is commonly considered by critics as sympathetic to Moscow – will search to win over Putin to collectively isolate and comprise China.

“That is what Xi Jinping fearful about probably the most. He desires to as soon as once more improve and consolidate the strategic cooperative relationship between China and Russia,” Sung instructed RFA.