China's moment? Putin heads to Beijing after Trump courts Xi

Just days after hosting Donald Trump, China's Xi Jinping is set to welcome Russian leader Vladimir Putin. The meetings underscore Beijing's growing role in a fractured geopolitical landscape. Ostensibly, Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to China this week to meet with his counterpart, Xi Jinping, is taking place to mark the 25th anniversary of the 2001 Sino‑Russian Treaty of Good‑Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation. But the timing of the trip — just days after US President Donald Trump's state visit to Beijing — is noteworthy, and highlights China's influential position in a geopolitical landscape that is increasingly fractured and marked by great power rivalries. What is on the agenda at the Putin-Xi summit? Topics on the table are expected to include bilateral economic and trade issues, as well as discussions on international and regional affairs. Amid Moscow's isolation from the West over its invasion of Ukraine, China has become Russia's largest trading partner by far, supplying more than a third of its imports and buying more than a quarter of Russian exports. But the partnership reportedly also has military dimensions. A Reuters investigation in July 2025 said Chinese companies allegedly used shell firms to ship drone engines to Russian arms manufacturers as industrial cooling equipment — allegations Beijing denies. Ahead of the Putin-Xi summit, Claus Soong of the Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS) in Germany told DW that the current geopolitical landscape has placed Beijing in an advantageous position. Both the United States and Russia need China right now, albeit in opposing ways: Washington seeks a strategic rival while Moscow wants a partner with overlapping geopolitical and energy interests. Beijing, meanwhile, does not need to lean towards balancing the US or distancing itself from tensions between Russia and the West, Soong added. Reports: China is quietly fueling Russia's Ukraine war To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video What does Putin want from Xi now? Trump was warmly received by Xi and left Beijing on an optimistic note. Putin's visit could in part be aimed at seeking reassurances that any progress in China-US relations does not come at Moscow's expense. For Putin, the immediate priority is to reaffirm his close ties with Xi and to gauge Beijing's current thinking. A more forward-looking question, Soong suggested, is who could act as a credible mediator if Russia were to seek an end to the war in Ukraine. Recent signals — including a more subdued Victory Day parade and continued Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil infrastructure — suggest Moscow may be experiencing war fatigue. Putin even suggested that the conflict could be nearing a conclusion. Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Putin has frequently met with Xi. For Beijing, the relationship remains a strategic priority, Soong noted — although the power balance is asymmetrical, with Russia now relying more heavily on China than the other way around. Facing mounting pressure in Ukraine, Putin continues to depend on China in several ways, Ding Shufan, a professor of East Asia Studies at Taiwan's Chengchi University, said these include China's continued imports of Russian energy, as well as access to dual-use goods and supply chains. Whether Beijing might adjust its level of support — "like controlling the water tap," as Soong put it — remains unclear. China and Russia: A partnership of equals? To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video What Beijing wants — and can get — from Moscow "China does not want war; it is not in China's long-term interests," Soong told DW. China is therefore unlikely to exert much influence in current war zones. "It may not be in China's interest to see the Ukraine war continue," he added, "but it would pose a greater risk for China to see a regime collapse." Beijing would view the collapse of the regimes in both Iran and Russia as a negative outcome. Soong argues that a weakened or unstable Russia would pose immediate strategic risks for Beijing. The two countries share a long border, and Moscow remains an important strategic partner for China. That means Beijing is unlikely to want Russia to lose too badly, even as it avoids taking on a more direct role in the war. China has also been affected by tensions around the Strait of Hormuz and the resulting disruption to oil supplies. Given domestic challenges such as industrial overcapacity, China cannot easily export its goods if key regions are disrupted by conflict. Analysts say the turmoil in the Middle East could make Russian energy more attractive to Beijing. Russia accounted for nearly 18% of China's oil imports in 2025, compared with around 13% from Iran and roughly 42% from other Gulf countries. Western sanctions have pushed Moscow to redirect exports eastward, while the US