Putin, Xi pledge closer ties

Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin pledged to bolster ties as Moscow stages its biggest military exercises since the height of the Cold War with Chinese participation. Both face pressure from the administration of President Donald Trump.

“We have a relationship of trust in the sphere of politics, security and defense,” Putin told Xi at the start of their talks. “We know that you personally pay great attention to the development of Russian-Chinese relations.”

Neither mentioned the U.S. directly, but at a later session with Putin and regional officials, Xi underlined that Russia and China agreed to oppose unilateral actions and trade protectionism. “Amid the quickly changing international situation and the factors of instability and unpredictability, the cooperation of Russia and China takes on greater and greater importance,” he said.

The meeting comes amid a deterioration in relations between the U.S. and both countries, amid fears a trade dispute is fueling a “new Cold War” between Washington and Beijing. While Trump is threatening punitive tariffs on all Chinese goods being exported to America, U.S. lawmakers are debating new sanctions on Russia.

Trump also blames Xi for derailing nuclear talks with North Korea — and a group of U.S. politicians have called for Russia-style sanctions against top Chinese officials in response to human rights abuses against the Uighur minority.

The U.S. president will skip two major Asian summits in November, removing a possible venue for a meeting with Xi and opening the door for China to convey greater commitment to the region.