Putin in Bejing: partner or supplicant?
Hot on the heels of Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin has now travelled to visit Xi Jinping in China. The leaders will spend two days discussing global politics and strengthening economic ties between their countries. The media discusses both what Putin has called the "unprecedentedly high level" of relations between the two countries, as well as China's elevated role on the global stage.
Bound by Siberian natural gas
The Russian-Chinese partnership is based on energy supplies, explains columnist Pierre Haski in France Inter:
“For China, Russia is a treasure trove of fossil fuels on its doorstep, which is particularly valuable in these time of energy uncertainty. You only have to look at the delegation that accompanied Putin to China: all the energy oligarchs travelled with him. A second 7,000 km gas pipeline between Russia and China is being planned, Power of Siberia 2, which will deliver an additional 50 billion cubic metres of gas per year. ... This reinforcing of their energy partnership means it is highly improbable that the two countries will fall out in the foreseeable future.”
Not bromance but functional alliance
The bond between Xi and Putin is about shared interests rather than shared ideology, explains Handelsblatt:
“Both leaders want to push back against a world that has been dominated by the US for decades. And both stand to gain when Washington spreads chaos. Trump's impulsive foreign policy, his mixed messages in the Middle East and his erratic alliances are providing Beijing and Moscow with just the script they need. ... There is no bromance beneath the ostentatious harmony between these two autocrats. It's a functional alliance between two major powers which have learned that chaos can sometimes be the strongest bond in geopolitical partnerships.”
China wants a foothold in the far north
Political scientist Vadym Denysenko explains in a Facebook post picked up by Espreso that Beijing expects more from Moscow than just energy and loyalty:
“China will certainly demand concessions – particularly with regards to Russia making territory available for infrastructure along the Northern Sea Route. The fact is that China has already launched its polar trade convoys and is building ships specifically for this route (not nuclear-powered icebreakers, but cargo ships). However, these convoys sail without stopovers and don't call at any ports – primarily due to a lack of suitable bases and logistical infrastructure.”
Laying the foundations for a new world order
Xi and Putin are working to create a new form of globalisation independent of the US, writes Kirill Babayev, director of the Institute of China and Modern Asia, in Kommersant:
“This world must be built, piece by piece, undeterred by threats on the social media platform Truth Social – through a new international payment infrastructure, new mechanisms for trade regulation and a new form of globalisation. ... This is precisely the kind of world the countries of the global majority need today, and we can be sure that in the coming days Putin and Xi will be discussing exactly how to shape this new world – be it through the Eurasian Partnership strategy, the Brics or the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organisation).”
Host shining by comparison
China doesn't have to do much to look respectable compared with Trump or Putin, Interia observes:
“In 2026, the world is indeed revolving around the Middle Kingdom. First, President Donald Trump travelled to Beijing. Now President Vladimir Putin has paid a visit. Strangely enough, both look like supplicants in Beijing. ... For now, it seems that Chinese neo-imperialism, based on a patience that feels old-fashioned in the age of social media, is making the best impression. Never before have so many articles been written about how China comes across as serious and credible, particularly against the backdrop of Trump's erratic policies.”
Xi smug while rivals struggle
For La Stampa, the Chinese leader's medium-term goal is clear:
“He has set himself the not-too-distant target of overtaking the US by 2050. There's still a lot of work to be done before then. But Xi is realistic and content for the time being to position China as the stable and responsible major power between the other two, which are inextricably entangled in wars that are causing energy crises and trade tensions in the rest of the world. China's economic slowdown, a result of geopolitical resistance and competition in the Indo-Pacific, industrial overcapacity and demographic decline, is more than offset by the missteps and mistakes of Russia and the US. These mistakes have specific names: Ukraine and Iran.”