The Guardian | Pjotr Sauer, Amy Hawkins
China orchestrated deliberately mirrored welcomes for Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, yet subtly signaled Moscow as a more trusted partner in an emerging non-western world order. While Trump was met by China's vice-president, Putin was welcomed by a politburo member. The Kremlin dismissed comparisons, but Russian state media portrayed Putin as an "ally" and Trump as a "rival." Both summits yielded modest results; Trump-Xi talks saw little progress on Nvidia chip exports and tariffs. Russia's economic struggles and limited battlefield progress in Ukraine have deepened its reliance on China, transforming their relationship into an asymmetric one. The US-Iran war and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz offered Russia an opportunity to present itself as a reliable long-term energy supplier to Beijing, though no specific announcement on the Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline emerged. Xi Jinping benefited by projecting China as a global statesman capable of balancing rival powers and as a lifeline for an increasingly dependent Russia. No breakthroughs on the Ukraine or US-Iran conflicts were achieved, with China reiterating language mirroring the Kremlin's narrative on Ukraine.
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