In this sea photo released by the Russian government agency Sputnik, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping visit a photo exhibition on Russia-China relations in Beijing on May 20, 2026. (Photo by Alexander KAZAKOV / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)
Alexander Kazakov Afp | Getty Images
Russian President Vladimir Putin left Beijing on Wednesday with announcements of strengthening friendship with China and a number of bilateral agreements – but without the explosion of the energy pipeline Moscow has been watching, it shows the evolution of the geometry of the partnership that is increasingly favorable to Beijing.
Little progress on the gas deal
The two leaders failed to reach a breakthrough on the Power of Siberia 2 pipeline that Moscow had flagged would be “discussed in detail,” as Russian gas exports to Europe plummeted following its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
After the conference, Russian Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said that Beijing and Moscow have reached an understanding on important business parameters, but “some nuances are still to be resolved,” without a clear time frame for this project, according to a Google translation of the RIA Novosti news agency’s report in Russian.
When Chinese President Xi Jinping said energy cooperation should be a “ballast stone” in China-Russia relations, he did not mention the pipeline.
“This is a huge setback for Russia and Putin, who indicated before the visit that there was success,” said Lyle Morris, senior China security and foreign policy official at the Asia Society Policy Institute.
Beijing may be “playing hardball when Russia loses the ability to have the European Union cut off the flow of gas to Moscow,” Morris said. “There is no way to sugar coat it: Putin has been embarrassed by failing to agree to this pipeline.”
Moscow views the natural gas project as essential to redirecting its gas exports from Europe to China, while Beijing is wary of over-reliance on a single gas supplier. Russia has been one of China’s top energy suppliers and increased its oil exports to Beijing after the Strait of Hormuz flow was severely disrupted.
The two sides had signed a legally binding memorandum to advance construction of the Power of Siberia 2 pipeline by September 2025, but talks stalled over disagreements over pricing, financing terms and delivery timelines.
The long-delayed pipeline is expected to carry up to 50 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year from Russia to China via Mongolia, building on the existing Siberia 1 power system, which brings about 38 billion cubic meters of gas to China every year.
‘Unyielding’ bonds and excellence
Despite the failure of the gas deal, Beijing and Moscow have signed a package of more than 40 agreements in trade, education, technology, nuclear security, among others, showing momentum in the long-standing relationship.
The leaders of the two nations declared their “uncompromising” ties and pledged to deepen “good neighborliness and friendly cooperation,” with Xi praising bilateral relations as “at the highest level in history.”
China is Russia’s largest trading partner, although Moscow accounts for only about 4 percent of Beijing’s total trade, making the relationship in China’s favor.
China and Russia also agreed to deepen mutual trust and military cooperation, including expanding joint exercises, air patrols, and maritime patrols.
In Taiwan, Moscow reaffirmed its support for the “One China policy,” which holds the island as part of China’s territory and opposes any form of independence for Taiwan. On Ukraine, China said it continues to favor a political solution to the conflict, while firmly supporting Russia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
In a thinly veiled swipe at Washington, the two sides condemned military strikes in third countries, assassinations of sovereign state leaders, and attempts to destabilize the domestic political situation as serious violations of international law.
Such “devastating external disturbances” are the main cause of instability across Eurasia, the joint statement said.
Serious action
Putin’s visit came after US President Donald Trump’s visit, where Beijing issued an almost identical welcome to the Russian leader: a red carpet on the tarmac, lines of children waving flags and holding flowers.
Xi welcomed both leaders in a ceremony full of pomp and ceremony outside the Great Hall of the People in central Beijing, with 21 gunshots echoing across Tiananmen Square. While Trump arrived with a dozen business executives, including executives from Apple, Tesla and Nvidia, Putin’s entourage consisted mostly of deputy prime ministers, ministers and heads of state-backed oil and gas companies.
“There has been a very fragile, volatile position to ensure that there is a negative balance in China’s relationship with those two leaders,” Evan Medeiros, the Penner family chair of Asian Studies at Georgetown University, told CNBC’s “The China Connection.”
For Xi, the back-to-back visits underscored his importance in global events, Medeiros said. “It is clear that Xi Jinping is trying to position China as an important foreign power in international politics,” he said, referring to the number of leaders who have visited China in recent months from countries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
“This is an attempt by China to say that it is a leading power, if not the leading power in the world,” Medeiros noted.
Compared to Trump, who was making only his second trip to China, Putin has visited the country more than 20 times during his more than 100 years in power.
