Russian President Vladimir Putin smiled and waved enthusiastically to his Chinese counterpart during virtual talks on Tuesday.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping vowed to take his country’s ties with Russia to a new level this year in a video conference with counterpart Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, hours after the inauguration of US President Donald Trump.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has had a call with Chinese President Xi Jinping, emphasizing the two countries’ close ties, a day after Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th U.S. president.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin had a video call hours after Donald Trump was sworn in yesterday, pledging to bring bilateral ties to "greater heights", according to state media on both sides.

Chinese President Xi Jinping reaffirmed ties with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, as the two face a more geopolitically assertive US government led by Donald Trump, who criticised the Kremlin's war against Ukraine on the first day of his second term as president.

Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping share a broad world view, which portrays the West as decadent and in decline as China challenges U.S. supremacy in many areas.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a video call hours after President Donald Trump re-entered the White House and pledged to "deepen" their partnership.

The ‘dear friends’ discuss Taiwan, the war in Ukraine, and future relations with the US, pledging to ‘defend their legitimate interests’

China's President Xi Jinping spoke with Russia's Vladimir Putin over video call on Tuesday, Chinese national broadcaster CCTV said.

In the 1.5-hour video call, the leaders discussed the need to “cope with the uncertainty of the external environment”.

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.

US President Donald Trump has acknowledged Kyiv’s readiness for a “deal” to end the Russia-Ukraine war, but it takes two to tango. He is now signaling to China, urging joint efforts to persuade Vladimir Putin to reach a peaceful resolution.