Russia and China warn against return to ‘law of the jungle’

Russia and China used a joint declaration to cast the current world order as increasingly unstable, warning that the failure of some countries to dominate global affairs in a colonial-era mindset had given way to a renewed risk of rule by raw power.

“The global situation is becoming more complex,” they said in a declaration released by the Kremlin in Russian.

“The agenda for global peace ‌and development faces new risks and challenges, and there is ‌a danger that the international community will fragment and return to the ‘law of the jungle’.”

“Efforts by certain states to unilaterally steer world affairs, force their interests on the rest of the world, and curb the sovereign development of other countries in the spirit of the colonial era have failed.”

Mr Putin said Russia remained ready to work with partners, including the United ‌States, and said he had discussed that point with ‌Mr Xi.

The Russian leader arrived in Beijing after years of war in Ukraine had left Russia weakened, with sanctions from Western powers tightening pressure on the country’s energy earnings.

Moscow has already become deeply dependent on Beijing, which is the main buyer of sanctioned Russian oil.

Vladimir Putin is greeted by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at Beijing Capital Airport

Russia and China failed to secure a deal on the new multi billion-dollar “Power of Siberia 2” gas pipeline during talks between Mr Putin and Mr Xi, the Kremlin told Russian state media.

Moscow, whose economic dependence on China has grown sharply since its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, has spent years pressing for the pipeline, but movement has remained slow as Beijing holds back.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian media the two sides had reached a “basic understanding”, including on “the route and how it will be built”, but said there was no “clear timeline” and that “there are still some details to be worked out”.

The project did not appear in the Kremlin’s lengthy list of agreements published on its website after the Putin-Xi talks.

The pipeline would carry 50 billion cubic meters of gas a year and, crucially for Russia, would draw supplies from fields that once served Europe, where exports have fallen sharply since the war.

The planned route would stretch 2,600km from the Yamal Peninsula in northern Siberia through Mongolia and into China.

China has been less eager about the project, despite Russian hopes that energy instability caused by the Middle East war would shift Beijing’s position.

Mr Xi has recently welcomed a succession of world leaders as an increasingly unpredictable United States under Mr Trump has driven many capitals to strengthen ties with Beijing, and the war in Iran has only accelerated that trend.

But while Mr Trump was received with a display of ceremony last week, Mr Putin’s visit is expected to unfold in a more intimate setting.

Even so, the trip is set to underline the personal rapport between the Russian and Chinese leaders, who are due to discuss ways to deepen their strategic partnership, according to the Kremlin.

“The Xi-Putin relationship does not require that kind of performative reassurance” like the pomp received by Mr Trump, said Patricia Kim from the Brookings Institution in Washington.

Donald Trump and Xi Jingpin discussed Ukraine last week

When Mr Putin last travelled to Beijing in September 2025, Mr Xi embraced him as an “old friend” — a phrase the Chinese leader did not use for Mr Trump during last week’s visit.

Both Mr Putin and Mr Xi see their relationship as “structurally stronger and more stable” than the ties linking China and the United States, she told AFP before the Russian president left Moscow.

Beijing has repeatedly called for negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, but it has never condemned Russia for sending troops into the country and has instead portrayed itself as a neutral party.

Mr Trump and Mr Xi discussed Ukraine last week, but the US president departed China without securing a breakthrough.

“Xi will almost certainly brief Putin on his summit with Trump,” Ms Kim said.

The absence of clear outcomes from the Xi-Trump meeting “likely reassures Moscow that Xi did not strike any understanding with Trump that would materially undercut Russian interests”.

Mr Putin will be looking for China to deepen its support for Moscow after Mr Trump told Fox News during his trip that Beijing had agreed to buy US oil to satisfy its “insatiable” demand for energy.

With Russia depending on Chinese purchases to help fund its war effort, “Putin does not want to lose that support”, Asia Society’s Lyle Morris told AFP.

“Putin will likely be keen to hear from Xi about China’s next step in the Middle East,” Mr Morris said, after “Trump signalled clearly that he hopes Beijing will play a leading role”.

Still, China and Russia may not be aligned when it comes to the US-Israeli war on Iran.

“(China) relies on the freedom of the world’s major waterways to sustain its economic activities and would prefer that the standoff in the Strait of Hormuz end sooner rather than later,” James Char of Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University told AFP.

By contrast, Moscow has “been benefitting economically from the fighting in Iran due to the relaxation of sanctions against Russian energy supplies, so may have a different view”, he said.