Russia tries to re-stake its claim to China after Trump's meeting with Xi

Russian officials appeared anxious Monday to reaffiirm Moscow's confederation with China pursuing U.S. President Donald Trump's high-profile gathering with Xi Jinping.

Hot connected the heels of Trump's talks with Xi past week, which the U.S. president described arsenic "amazing," Russia has present sent a ample delegation of its ain to China for deal-making and talks.

Russia's Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin arrived successful Hangzhou connected Monday for two-day talks with his Chinese counterpart, Li Qiang, with the officials signing a scope of agreements, Russian authorities media reported, to deepen practice successful the fields of trade, investment, energy, transport, agriculture and space.

Calling his Chinese counterpart his "dear friend," Mishustin said successful comments reported by Russian authorities quality bureau Ria Novosti, that relations between Russia and China were "at their highest level successful their centuries-long past and proceed to make dynamically successful each areas, contempt assorted obstacles and amerciable Western sanctions."

For his part, Li Qiang said Beijing was acceptable to fortify practice with Russia contempt obstacles, though helium did not specify what helium was referring to.

"Despite caller outer risks and challenges successful this process, China and Russia ever enactment each other, physique strategical contacts and interactions, and strive to jointly flooded difficulties," helium said, TASS reported. He added that the concern "demonstrates that China and Russia are bully neighbors and reliable partners who tin ever spot each other."

China is Russia's astir important and almighty planetary ally, with Beijing having refused to condemn Moscow's penetration of Ukraine successful 2022 and the ongoing war, echoing Russia's rhetoric by calling the warfare a "crisis."

Just up of its penetration of Ukraine, Putin and Xi signed a "no limits" partnership and Russia has looked to leverage that confederation some successful presumption of geopolitical enactment and commercialized partnerships, to lessen the interaction of Western sanctions which person curtailed its vigor export market.

Ahead of this week's trip, the Kremlin said it placed "very great" value connected the talks and it has surely looked to bespeak that successful the delegation sent to Asia, with Mishustin accompanied by a scope of apical officials including his deputies and ministers of finance, agriculture, transport, economical improvement and trade.

Space and atomic vigor officials were besides successful tow, with the manager wide of Roscosmos and caput of Rosatom joining the delegation.

Russian officials' two-day sojourn to China comes conscionable days aft Trump's high-profile gathering with Chinese President Xi past week successful which helium said the leaders had reached "agreement connected galore issues." Xi, meanwhile, said Beijing and Washington should beryllium "partners and friends."

In what was wide seen arsenic a "trade truce" aft months of escalating tensions implicit tariffs and counter-tariffs, Trump said he reached a 1-year statement with China on uncommon world supplies and helium besides chopped fentanyl-linked tariffs connected Beijing by half, taking wide duties connected Chinese goods down to 47%.

Moscow did not publically remark connected the gathering and was apt uncomfortable astatine the show of its longtime state China holding seemingly constructive (and reconstructive) talks with the U.S., with whom it has seen a crisp deterioration of relations successful caller weeks.

Trump pulled retired of in-person talks that were owed to instrumentality spot with Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying helium did not privation to "have a wasted meeting," signaling his vexation with Moscow implicit a deficiency of question connected the Ukraine war.

Trump added that the acme had been canceled due to the fact that "every clip I talk to Vladimir, I person bully conversations and past they don't spell anywhere."

Russia was non-plussed by the cancelation, with elder Russian officials blaming Western media and "fake news" for the jettisoned talks.