Russia and China are ready to support each other on a wide range of issues, including national unity and protection of sovereignty, President Vladimir Putin said in a video address before a visit to Beijing that starts on Tuesday.
Mr Putin's trip comes less than a week after US President Donald Trump's high-profile visit to China, where he met President Xi Jinping, as Beijing seeks to project itself as a stable and predictable power in a world shaken by trade tension, wars and an energy crisis.
Mr Trump's visit was viewed positively but saw few major commercial agreements. Mr Xi described Chinese-US ties as a relationship of “strategic stability”, challenging the “strategic competition” framework associated with former US president Joe Biden.
Relations between Russia and China have reached an “unprecedented level” of mutual understanding and trust, Mr Putin said as he prepared to meet Mr Xi for talks on Wednesday.
The two countries are ready to co-operate on mutually beneficial and equality-based principles and “to support each other on issues affecting the core interests of the two countries, including the protection of sovereignty and national unity”, Mr Putin said. He did not provide any further details.
Russia and China are actively expanding ties in economy, politics and defence, he sai. A “strategic” connection between Moscow and Beijing was playing “a stabilising role” in global relations.
“We are not aligning against anyone, but working for the cause of peace and universal prosperity,” Mr Putin said.
Russian gas deal
During Mr Putin's last visit to China in September 2025, both countries agreed to build the Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline, but have yet to determine its pricing.
Energy supply shortages linked to conflict in Iran may back Russia's case for the pipeline as a long-term gas source. Beijing is expected, however, to stick to its diversification strategy by discussing supply deals with both Turkmenistan and Russia, said a Beijing-based industry expert.
China could agree on a broad deal with Russia covering annual supply volumes and terms such as supply flexibility and seasonality, while leaving pricing open-ended, said the experts, who did not want to be identified.
Price negotiations could take years.
Mr Xi in 2014 announced a fourth pipeline linking Turkmenistan's giant Galkynysh gasfield to north-west China. But the project has yet to be finalised due to pricing disputes and complexity involving Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, through which the pipeline transits.
China remains the largest buyer of Russian oil, including pipeline supplies and seaborne shipments.
Despite western sanctions on Russia's oil exports, Chinese independent refiners are regular customers, with transactions settled largely in yuan. State oil refiners also recently resumed purchases following a brief US sanction waiver.
Russia agreed in 2025 to supply an additional 2.5 million tonnes of oil per year to China via Kazakhstan.
“In principle, we have reached a high degree of consensus regarding the taking of a serious – indeed, very substantial – step forward in our co-operation within the oil and gas sectors,” Mr Putin said on May 9.
“If we succeed in finalising them and bringing them to a conclusion during the visit, I will be very pleased.”
