Putin Visits China, Receives Warm Welcome but Leaves Without Pipeline Deal

Vladimir Putin’s state visit to China featured ceremonial warmth and expressions of strategic partnership, but concluded without a final agreement on the Power of Siberia 2 natural gas pipeline, underscoring the limits of the Russia-China relationship.

As Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping walked along a red carpet toward the Great Hall of the People, a Chinese military band performed the Russian classic ‘Moscow Nights,’ a gesture of cultural familiarity.

The song’s refrain — ‘If only you knew how these Moscow Nights are dear to me’ — evoked the personal rapport the two leaders have cultivated over years of meetings.

The musical choice hinted at a symbolic romance between the two nations, though substantive outcomes fell short of Russian expectations.

‘My dear friend,’ Putin said to Xi during their public remarks.

‘My old friend,’ Xi replied to Putin.

The exchange reflected the language of two leaders who have built what they describe as a special relationship, having met more than 40 times over the years.

In their joint statements, they emphasized ‘strategic cooperation,’ ‘partnership,’ ‘mutual respect,’ ‘friendship,’ and ‘trust’ between their countries.

They also jointly criticized U.S. nuclear policy as ‘irresponsible’ and condemned former President Donald Trump’s proposal for a Golden Dome missile defense shield.

Ahead of the visit, the Russian government newspaper ran two large front-page photographs: one of a solitary-looking President Trump climbing the steps of Air Force One at the end of his China trip the previous week, and an older image of Putin and Xi walking together.

The visual messaging was unmistakable: Russia and China present a united front on the world stage.

However, the atmosphere of personal camaraderie does not translate into automatic alignment of national interests.

Geopolitical relationships are typically driven by self-interest rather than affection.

The Xi-Putin summit made clear that there are boundaries to the partnership.

Russia had hoped to advance negotiations on the Power of Siberia 2 pipeline, which would deliver additional Russian gas from Western Siberia to northern China via Mongolia, helping Moscow offset lost European markets.

Last year, Russia and China signed a memorandum of understanding on the project, but Beijing has shown no urgency to finalize a deal.

On Wednesday, the Kremlin stated that Russia and China had reached a ‘general understanding on the parameters’ of the pipeline.

However, no final agreement was announced.

Russian officials will be disappointed by the lack of progress, though the outcome was not unexpected.

‘The positions of Russia and China are not identical. Their interests do not always coincide,’ the Russian government newspaper acknowledged in the same edition that featured the photo of the two leaders side by side.

‘With two countries of this size, both with a great-power psyche, it couldn’t be any other way,’ the newspaper added.

The term ‘bromance’ was once applied to another high-profile relationship — between Putin and Trump — as Russia and the United States pledged to improve ties.

After their meeting in Alaska last summer, Russian officials began referring to ‘the spirit of Anchorage,’ suggesting that Moscow and Washington had reached a mutual understanding on ending the war in Ukraine on terms acceptable to Russia.

But the war did not end, and the spirit of Anchorage has since evaporated.

‘The spirit of Beijing exists,’ Putin’s foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said on the sidelines of the summit.

‘But the spirit of Anchorage? I never used that phrase,’ Ushakov added.