At a joint summit in Beijing, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin sharply criticized U.S. proposals for a ground- and space-based missile-interceptor system and what they called Washington’s irresponsible nuclear posture, meeting roughly a week after President Donald Trump’s visit to the Chinese capital. Their joint statement said the proposed missile defence architecture threatens global strategic stability and also faulted the United States over the lapse in the last remaining treaty limiting U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals, which expired in February after the U.S. did not accept Moscow’s offer to extend its limits by a year. Xi and Putin, who have met more than 40 times and formalized a strategic partnership in 2022 shortly before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, stressed the depth of bilateral ties. For Xi, the meetings capped a week of diplomacy aimed at presenting China as a stabilizing force amid trade tensions and conflicts in Iran and Ukraine. The agenda with Putin focused on consolidating a relationship the two sides describe as ‘without limits,’ though it produced no breakthrough on a long-discussed natural gas project. Moscow has sought more energy accords with China, its largest oil customer, including further pipeline supplies and seaborne shipments. Russian gas giant Gazprom had previously said in September 2025 that both sides agreed to advance Power of Siberia 2 — a proposed 2,600-km pipeline through Mongolia designed to deliver about 50 billion cubic meters a year to China — but Chinese authorities have been reticent publicly. Xi referred broadly to energy and resource connectivity as the ‘ballast stone’ of China-Russia relations but did not name the pipeline. Key commercial issues, including gas pricing, remain unresolved and analysts say negotiations could take years; the Kremlin said the two sides reached a ‘general understanding on the parameters’ but agreed no detailed timeline. The visit featured ceremonial honors at the Great Hall of the People, with an honor guard and gun salute as children waved Chinese and Russian flags. Xi called for long-term strategic focus and a fairer global governance system, while Putin said the relationship had reached an unprecedented level. Both leaders signed a statement pledging strengthened strategic coordination and a declaration promoting a multipolar world, warning that the global peace and development agenda faces new risks, fragmentation, and a drift back toward the ‘law of the jungle.’
