putin Arrived in China with an Outstretched Hand Again and Left Empty-Handed

putin visited Beijing for the second time this year. This marks his 25th visit to China during his presidency and his fifth since the start of the full-scale war against Ukraine. He returned empty-handed.

The main reason moscow has been dragging out negotiations for years – the “power of siberia–2” gas pipeline – is once again up in the air. The project has been under discussion for more than ten years. According to the plan, it was supposed to increase gas supplies to 100 billion cubic meters per year. kremlin press secretary dmitry peskov attributed the lack of results to “unresolved details”. In other words, they failed to reach an agreement once again.

Instead, the parties signed 42 documents – mostly declarative and mostly framework agreements. deputy prime minister of the rf d. manturov solemnly announced that the bilateral intergovernmental commission on investment cooperation currently has 89 projects worth over $200 billion in metallurgy, chemistry, machine building, forestry industry, agricultural sector, and logistics. He called this a “significant boost”. In reality, these figures have been inflated since 2014. In fact, about $20 billion has been financed during this time – ten times less than the amounts cited in the reports.

putin arrived in Beijing not as an equal, but as a supplicant. moscow asked Beijing for artificial intelligence chips which it is cannot produce itself. It asked for money to build a motorways to Iran and Afghanistan. And just before the trip, putin lowered the price of gas for China to a six-year low, effectively paying for the right to the meeting.

The negotiations confirmed what has long been obvious: the rf has firmly established itself as a supplier of raw materials, energy resources, and transit space for the Chinese economy. moscow has been actively promoting the northern sea route, overland Eurasian routes, and other transport infrastructure. This is convenient for Beijing: the rf’s resource and transit potential is useful as long as it remains cheap and compliant.

China, for its part, is in no hurry. The Chinese media covered putin’s visit with restraint, without excessive personalization, and certainly did not portray him as Xi’s equal.

Meanwhile, trade between the two countries is shrinking. In 2025, trade turnover between the rf and China fell by approximately 6.5% in yuan and by about 6.9% in dollar terms. Total trade volume amounted to about 1.63 trillion yuan, compared to a record 1.74 trillion in 2024. Chinese exports to russia fell by 9.9%, while imports of russian raw materials decreased by 3.4%.

Against this background, residents of irkutsk region appealed to Xi Jinping to build schools in siberia and expressed their willingness to begin learning the Chinese language.