Still, a degree of informality is to be expected, given this marked Putin’s 25th visit to China, among over 40 meetings overall with President Xi Jinping, underscoring a bilateral relationship infamously described as “no limits” back in February 2022, just days before Russian troops marched into Ukraine.
Upon arrival, Putin gushed that “today, our relations have reached an unprecedentedly high level, serving as a model of comprehensive partnership and strategic interaction.” Xi, meanwhile, was more poetic, welcoming his guest via the two millennia-old Chinese idiom: “One day apart feels like three autumns have passed.”
But other than underscoring the strength of bilateral ties deeply rooted in history and 2,615 mi. of shared border, Xi’s welcoming of two of the world’s most powerful leaders just four days apart spotlights China’s growing global clout as the U.S. rails against allies and an international order it helped construct but now abhors. (Xi has also hosted the leaders of Canada, South Korea, Vietnam, Spain, Ireland, the UAE, and U.K. so far this year.)