Russian President Vladimir Putin called his relationship with Chinese leader Xi Jinping “unprecedented” during talks in Beijing on Tuesday, just hours before China stages its biggest military parade in history.
Putin praised Xi as a “dear friend,” while Chinese state media described their partnership as “exemplary.” The two leaders announced new agreements: Russia will boost gas supplies to China, and Beijing will allow Russians visa-free entry for a year-long trial starting September 15.
The meeting comes as Xi prepares to host both Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at Wednesday’s parade, a display marking 80 years since Japan’s surrender in World War II. Tens of thousands of Chinese troops are expected to march through the capital, with the three leaders standing together in a symbolic show of unity.
Xi, who visited Moscow in May for Russia’s own WWII commemoration, has sought to position China as a global power broker at a time when U.S. President Donald Trump struggles to strike a deal with Putin to end the Ukraine war.
At their talks in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, Putin avoided mentioning Ukraine directly. Instead, he said their discussions covered “issues of common concern” and praised the closeness of Russia-China ties. “We were always together then, and we remain together now,” he said in remarks published by the Kremlin.
Xi said the partnership had “withstood the test of international changes” and called for building a “more just and reasonable global governance system.”
The parade and summit highlight Beijing’s growing influence, both as the world’s second-largest economy and as a political heavyweight. Xi has presented China as a stable trading partner while Trump’s tariffs unsettle global markets.
Russia, meanwhile, is betting on China to offset the economic hit from Western sanctions. Russian media reported that once current projects are complete, Moscow will ship 106 billion cubic meters of gas to China each year—well below the volumes once sent to Europe before the Ukraine invasion.
On Monday, Putin and Xi criticized the West during a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting in Tianjin. Xi urged members to reject “Cold War thinking and bullying,” while Putin blamed Western governments for triggering the Ukraine conflict and pushed for a new system to replace “outdated Eurocentric models.”
North Korea’s Kim arrived in China on Tuesday by train for what will be his first multilateral international event. It also marks the first time in decades that a North Korean leader will attend a Chinese military parade. The last such occasion was in 1959, when Kim’s grandfather, Kim Il-Sung, took part.
While most Western leaders will boycott the event over Russia’s war in Ukraine, Beijing has stood firmly by Moscow. The U.S. accuses China of quietly aiding Russia’s war effort through purchases of oil and dual-use materials, something Beijing denies.
North Korea has gone further, supplying both weapons and troops to Russia’s invasion.
