NEW DELHI: Russian President Vladimir Putin is going to China for four days. The Kremlin has labeled this trip “unprecedented.” Russia’s economy is having a hard time because of Western sanctions and the consequences of the war in Ukraine. Putin told China’s official Xinhua news agency in writing that Western sanctions are “discriminatory” and that Russia and China are both against them.
The visit, which took place from Sunday to Wednesday, shows how important China is as Russia’s biggest trading partner. Putin will first go to Tianjin for a two-day meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). The SCO, which was created in 2001 to focus on security, now includes 10 permanent members, including India and Iran. After the summit, Putin will go to Beijing to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping and see a military parade celebrating the conclusion of World War II.
Xi went to a military parade in Moscow in May, which was the last time they met. The two presidents have met more than 40 times in the last ten years. In 2022, just before Russia invaded Ukraine, they announced a “no limits” strategic relationship.
China has provided a lifeline for Russia’s economy, which is under sanctions, since the invasion. China has been buying oil from Russia and selling everything from cars to technology, which has pushed commerce between the two countries to a record $245 billion in 2024. Putin talked about this partnership, saying that trade between the two countries is now mostly done in rubles and yuan, which makes them less reliant on Western currencies.
But even though the trade numbers are at an all-time high, new Chinese customs data shows that trade between the two countries fell by more than 8% in the first seven months of 2025. Moscow is apparently trying to change this trend during this visit.
Putin didn’t talk about the European Union’s claims that China is helping Russia in its war in Ukraine, but the visit itself is a strong sign of how close the two countries are becoming in the face of a Western-led world order.