Russia's Putin and China's Xi discuss their close ties in chat after Trump's inauguration

MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke Tuesday with Chinese President Xi Jinping and emphasized their close ties a day after Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th U.S. president.

The two leaders discussed their prospective contacts with Trump's administration during the video call that lasted more than 1 1/2 hours, the Kremlin said.

They have developed strong, personal links that brought their relations even closer after Putin sent troops into Ukraine in 2022. China has become a major customer for Russian oil and gas and a source of key technologies amid sweeping Western sanctions on Moscow.

In the call with Xi, Putin emphasized that Russia-China relations are based on shared interests, equality and mutual benefits, noting they ''don't depend on internal political factors and the current international environment.''

''We jointly support the development of a more just, multipolar global order, and work to ensure indivisible security in Eurasia and the world as a whole,'' Putin told Xi in remarks carried by Russian state TV. ''Joint efforts by Russia and China play an important stabilizing role in global affairs.''

Xi similarly praised their close cooperation, expressing his readiness to work together with Putin to ''lead China-Russia relations to a higher level, to cope with the uncertainty of the external environment with the stability and resilience of China-Russia relations,'' and to ''safeguard international fairness and justice.''

He emphasized that Russia and China should ''continue to deepen strategic cooperation, firmly support each other, and safeguard the legitimate interests of the two countries.''

While neither leader directly mentioned Trump in the televised fragment of their call, the Kremlin said they touched upon prospective contacts with the new U.S. administration.

The Chinese president spoke by phone Friday with Trump and expressed hope for positive ties with the U.S.

Trump had threatened to impose tariffs and other measures against China in his second term, while also hinting at ways in which the two rival powers could cooperate on issues such as regional conflicts and curbing the export of substances used in the production of fentanyl.

Putin's foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov told reporters the Putin-Xi call had been planned in advance and wasn't specifically linked to Trump's inauguration. But he noted that Xi briefed Putin about it.

Putin and Xi discussed ''certain issues related to possible contacts with the U.S. administration,'' Ushakov added

Putin and Xi expressed readiness to develop ties with Washington on the basis of mutual benefit and respect if Trump's team shows interest in that, he said.

Putin, who has yet to talk to Trump, congratulated him on taking office in televised remarks during a video call with officials and welcomed his intention to open a dialogue with Moscow.

Trump told reporters Monday after taking office that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had told him he wanted to make a peace deal and voiced hope that Putin would follow suit. He added that Putin would be destroying Russia by failing to make a deal, pointing out Russia's economic troubles, including high inflation.

Ushakov dodged commenting on Trump's statement, saying the Kremlin is waiting for ''concrete proposals that could form the basis for contacts.''

''We are open and ready for serious dialogue with the new U.S. administration on the Ukrainian conflict, and if relevant signals come from Washington, we would pick them up and stand ready to conduct talks,'' he said, adding that the Kremlin hasn't received any such signals yet.

On Monday, Putin praised Trump's openness to dialogue as he spoke to Russia's Security Council shortly before the inauguration.

''We hear the statements from Trump and members of his team about their desire to restore direct contact with Russia, which were halted through no fault of ours by the outgoing administration,'' Putin had said. ''We also hear his statements about the need to do everything to prevent World War III. We certainly welcome such an approach and congratulate the U.S. president-elect on taking office.''

He also stressed that dialogue should be based on ''equal basis and mutual respect, taking into account the important role our countries play on some key issues on the global agenda, including the strengthening of global stability and security.''

Moscow is open to dialogue with the Trump administration on Ukraine, Putin said, emphasizing the need to respect Russia's interests and adding that ''the most important thing is to remove the root causes of the crisis.''

''As for the settlement of the situation, I would like to underline that its goal should not be a short truce, not some kind of respite for regrouping forces and rearmament with the aim of subsequently continuing the conflict, but a long-term peace based on respect for the legitimate interests of all people, all nations living in this region,'' he said.