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Russian President Vladimir Putin, alongside his “dear friend” Chinese President Xi Jinping, championed the duo’s “unprecedentedly high” ties as the U.S. and Europe remain strained over Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
The Beijing meeting once again cemented the increased unity the adversarial nations have pursued following Putin’s 2022 invasion and comes one day ahead of a major military parade marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.
But it is not only the Kremlin and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) looking to unite in a show of opposition to the West.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who first traveled to China on Sunday for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), met with Xi on Tuesday and called the looming U.N. sanctions targeting its nuclear program a “double standard.”
“The same countries that violated the [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action] JCPOA are now claiming that Iran is not fulfilling its commitments,” he said in an interview with Chinese media, according to Iran International.
Pezeshkian’s comments were in direct reference to the U.S.’s withdrawal from the JCPOA in 2018 during the first Trump administration – a move which was further criticized by Russian and Chinese officials last week after the U.K., France and Germany announced their intent to employ snapback sanctions.
China, Iran and Russia sent a letter to the U.N. secretary general on Monday condemning the move and claiming the West was united in a “politically destructive” course.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un also traveled to China on Tuesday after his armored train was seen arriving in Bejing, where he was then met by Chinese officials including Foreign Minister Wang Yi, reported Reuters.
While North Korea is not a member of the SCO – a nine-member intercontinental group increasingly viewed as anti-Western and which includes China, Iran and Russia – Kim’s increased ties with Putin have prompted questions over whether there could be a trilateral agreement to include China on the horizon.
Xi highlighted the increasing concern when it comes to international groups like SCO or BRICS – a separate group that again includes Russia and China – in his comments on Monday when he said, “We must continue to take a clear stand against hegemonism and power politics.”
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent dismissed the summit as “performative” and again called out China and India – which also sit in both SCO and BRICS – as “bad actors” over their continued status as top purchasers of Russian fossil fuels.
But a new natural gas agreement reached by Putin and Xi on Tuesday suggests that China has no plans to reduce trade with Russia despite Trump’s immense tariff threats, which could come into effect if a trade deal is not reached between Washington and Beijing come November.
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