Russian President Vladimir Putin and China’s President Xi Jinping met in Beijing on Tuesday, describing bilateral ties as at an “unprecedentedly high” level during talks that also yielded progress on a long-mooted Siberia–China gas pipeline.
The meeting followed a trilateral session with Mongolia and comes on the eve of a military parade in the Chinese capital to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War.
In opening remarks, Mr Xi addressed Mr Putin as an “old friend”, while the Russian leader said the close contact between the two governments reflected the “strategic” nature of the partnership. Mr Putin added a historical note: “We were always together then, and we remain together now,” in reference to wartime cooperation. Chinese and Western agencies carried similar language about relations being at an “unprecedented” level.
Wartime narratives featured prominently. According to Russia’s state news agency TASS, Mr Xi said China and Russia were “key victors of World War II”, a formulation that aligns with Beijing’s emphasis on the Chinese People’s War of Resistance against Japan and Moscow’s commemoration of the Soviet role. The statement was made as Beijing prepares for Wednesday’s anniversary parade.
Energy cooperation was the most concrete area of progress announced around the talks. Gazprom said it had signed a legally binding memorandum with China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) to build the Power of Siberia-2 pipeline, designed to deliver 50 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas a year from Russia to China via Mongolia. Gazprom chief Alexei Miller also said the agreement is framed for 30 years, though pricing for the new route remains to be determined. In parallel, supplies through the existing Power of Siberia line are to rise from 38 bcm to 44 bcm annually, and volumes on the Far Eastern route will increase from 10 bcm to 12 bcm.
The proposed corridor through Mongolia—known on the Mongolian segment as Soyuz Vostok—was also referenced in Chinese and Russian readouts of the leaders’ engagements with President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh. Beijing’s official account of the trilateral meeting said the three sides discussed cross-border infrastructure and energy projects, and highlighted plans to expand settlement in national currencies.
For Moscow, the pipeline agenda is part of a broader pivot east after the loss of most of its European gas market since 2022. Reuters reported that Mr Miller characterised Power of Siberia-2 as potentially the world’s largest and most capital-intensive gas project. While technical scope and routing have been discussed for years, the commercial terms—including price—are still being negotiated.
The Beijing meetings followed the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit held in Tianjin, where Mr Putin repeated his long-standing claim that Western policies and NATO ambitions sparked the war in Ukraine. Those remarks drew a rebuttal from Kyiv: Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi dismissed Mr Putin’s assertions as false and called for sustained pressure on Moscow.
Symbolism around the Second World War is expected to remain a theme this week. China will stage a major parade in Beijing to mark Japan’s 1945 surrender, with foreign heads of state among the guests. Both leaders have increasingly tied present-day policy aims to wartime legacies—Beijing to national revival and sovereignty; Moscow to its narrative of European security grievances. Tuesday’s invocation of wartime solidarity and “victor” status underscores how both capitals frame their partnership as historically grounded as well as strategically useful.
From an economic perspective, the gas announcements highlight the growing energy interdependence. China has become Russia’s largest energy customer across crude, pipeline gas and liquefied natural gas. Yet, even with planned increases, Russia’s pipeline gas sales to China remain below the volumes once shipped to Europe, and the ultimate commercial success of Power of Siberia-2 will turn on price, construction timelines and demand conditions in northern China.
The trilateral dimension with Mongolia is also significant. Ulaanbaatar has pursued a role as an energy and transit bridge between its two neighbours; the prospective route would place Mongolia at the centre of a 50 bcm-per-year corridor if final investment decisions are taken. Beijing’s summary emphasised not only energy links but also closer coordination under the SCO framework and a wider use of local-currency settlement—priorities that dovetail with China and Russia’s efforts to reduce exposure to the dollar system.
For now, the headline from Beijing is twofold: political rhetoric stressing an “unprecedented” partnership and a tangible, if still incomplete, step on the pipeline front. Whether the legal memorandum quickly evolves into full commercial contracts will be the practical test of how far the relationship can convert ceremony into long-term supply commitments.
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