CNN reported that the two countries reportedly inked a long-stalled agreement to build a massive new pipeline to send natural gas to China via Mongolia. Russia’s state-owned energy company Gazprom announced that the pipeline will supply 50 billion cubic meters of gas annually from western Russia to northern China.
The meetings come a day after both leaders attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Tianjin, and on the eve of a major military parade in Beijing marking 80 years since the end of World War II. While the Soviet Union was neutral for much of the conflict in Asia, it aided China in the 1930s against Japanese forces and declared war on Japan in the war’s closing days.”We were always together then, we remain together now,” Putin said.
China insists it remains neutral on Ukraine but has provided Russia with vital trade links to offset Western sanctions. Some Chinese firms have faced accusations of indirectly supporting Russia’s defense sector.
Earlier in the day, Putin and Xi held a trilateral meeting with Mongolian President Khurelsukh Ukhnaa. Calling the three nations “good neighbours,” Putin said they shared many common interests.
Putin last visited Mongolia in 2024, when the government declined calls to act on an International Criminal Court warrant issued against him for alleged war crimes tied to the Ukraine invasion.
