Topline
China denied a recent Financial Times report that the country’s President Xi Jinping told U.S. President Donald Trump that their Russian counterpart, President Vladimir Putin, might ultimately regret launching his country’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine—with China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs calling the report “completely false.”
Key Facts
The Chinese president allegedly made the comments during Trump’s visit to China last week, the FT reported citing people familiar with the American assessment of the meeting.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Guo Jiakun called the report “completely false,” which was repeated in a post on social media.
The White House has not commented on the reported conversation.
Key Background
China has remained a close ally to Russia through the country’s protracted war with Ukraine, which Putin launched in 2022—about three weeks after the two countries signed a “no limits” partnership deal that they have consistently held up in the years since.
What To Watch For
Xi is expected to meet with Putin on Wednesday, about one week after his meeting with Trump. The Chinese president is expected to discuss a possible natural gas pipeline with Russia, Bloomberg reported on Monday. This would serve to deepen China’s economic ties with Russia just as the country has dealt with weeks of energy disruption caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz during the U.S.’s conflict with Iran.
Tangent
Trump also reportedly suggested Xi and Putin could join with the U.S. to counter the International Criminal Court, the international court based in The Hague which has drawn criticism from the Trump administration in the past. The president sanctioned the court shortly after taking office last year for engaging in what he called “illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel.”
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