Published: 12:01 AM, 19 April 2026
Russia Is Willing to Work With China to Uphold International Integrity and Justice
Dasha Anastasia
Chinese President Xi Jinping said last week that the stability and certainty of China-Russia relations are particularly “precious” in the face of an international landscape intertwined with change and chaos.
During a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Beijing, Xi said the strong vitality and exemplary significance of the friendship treaty between the two countries stand out even more under such a backdrop.
Xi said China and Russia need to use closer and stronger strategic collaboration to defend the legitimate interests of both nations and safeguard the unity of Global South countries, the state broadcaster CCTV reported. He also called for two countries to showcase the responsibility and commitment of major powers and permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, the report said.
“Firmly uphold and practice multilateralism, work together to revitalize the authority and vitality of the United Nations,” he was quoted as saying. “Promote the development of the international order in a more just and reasonable direction.”
Xi touted the value of the two nations’ ties, but he did not specify what he referred to as chaos and changes in the international context. His remarks came as uncertainty still lingers about how long the Iran war would last.
In clips from an interview with the Fox Business Network, U.S. President Donald Trump said on 14 April 2026 the war was “close to over.” Trump has repeatedly declared a U.S. victory in Iran after the war started — even as the reality on the ground has been far more complicated.
Relations between China and Russia have deepened in recent years, particularly following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in early 2022. Trump’s unorthodox approach to the war in Ukraine has added a twist to the relationship but doesn’t appear to have fundamentally changed it.
When Putin visited China in September, Xi welcomed his counterpart as an “old friend.” Putin also addressed Xi as “dear friend.”
Xi on Wednesday said foreign ministries from both countries would need to fully implement the consensus reached between him and Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling for strengthening strategic communication and close diplomatic coordination. He also urged them to promote the comprehensive strategic partnership between Beijing and Moscow to “stand higher, walk more steadily and go further.”
CCTV reported that Lavrov said Russian-Chinese relations demonstrated high resilience in a complex external environment, pointing to good momentum in trade and investment cooperation and close coordination in the U.N and other multilateral platforms.
He said Russia is willing to work with China to uphold international fairness and justice, push their ties to achieve greater development and make greater contributions to world peace, among other goals, CCTV said. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov arrived in China on Tuesday for a two-day trip at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.
China is taking over businesses in most of the shipping ports around the globe. China is building man made islands in the ocean as new military installations. China wants to dominate the globe as THE world power. China owns more real estate in the USA than most people realize. China sees itself as the replacement for the failing USA who is now isolated from most countries on the globe. By the time Americans wake up from the Trump ether. It will be too late.
Vladimir Putin has asked Russia’s oligarchs to donate to the country’s dwindling defence budget to continue its invasion of Ukraine, it has been reported.
The Russian president is expected to continue the conflict, which began in February 2022, until Moscow has secured the remaining areas of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region not under its control, according to the Financial Times.
At least two businessmen have told Putin they would be willing to make contributions to the defence budget after talks on Thursday, the newspaper reported.
Putin is understood to be pressing ahead with the invasion after Ukraine refused to withdraw unilaterally from Donbas during recent negotiations brokered by the US.
Russia will be in contact with the US about a new round of talks on a peace settlement as soon as conditions allow, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.
Peskov said Russia had not lost interest in peace talks but added that key issues – including territory – had yet to be settled.
The Kremlin’s defence bill has increased by 42% to reach Rbs13.1tn (£121bn) last year and it has sought to stabilize its economy through taxation.
The economy minister, Maxim Reshetnikov, said on Thursday that Russia was considering another windfall tax this year if the rouble continues to weaken. Russia raised Rbs320bn (£2.95bn) through a one-off 10% windfall levy on some large companies in 2023.
In January, the Kremlin increased VAT to 22% in a bid to raise an extra Rbs600bn over three years from small and medium-sized businesses.
Russia’s budget deficit for January and February swelled to more than 90% of the figure projected for the whole year as US sanctions forced Moscow to sell oil at significantly discounted prices.
Earlier, Putin cautioned that Russian companies and the government should take a guarded approach when deciding how to spend windfall gains from higher oil prices resulting from the war in the Middle East. For years, Ilya Remeslo was a reliable pro-Kremlin operator, going after critics of the regime and smearing independent journalists, bloggers and opposition politicians.
Then the 42-year-old lawyer abruptly turned on the country’s most powerful man. Late on Tuesday, Remeslo posted a manifesto to his 90,000 Telegram followers titled: “Five reasons why I stopped supporting Vladimir Putin.”
In it, he accused the “illegitimate” Russian President of waging a “failing war” in Ukraine that had caused millions of casualties and wrecked the economy, and argued that Putin’s more than two decades in power illustrated how “absolute power corrupts”, calling on him to step aside.
The post sent shock waves through Russia’s online sphere, fuelling confusion over how such a loyalist could reverse course so abruptly – and whether the shift was genuine.
Doubling down on his earlier remarks, he told the Guardian on Wednesday from his flat in St Petersburg: “Vladimir Putin should resign and be put on trial as a war criminal. His personalised, corrupt system is doomed to collapse, as we’re seeing now with the war in Ukraine and elsewhere.
“Now that the prices of our traditional exports are rising, but the markets are in turmoil, there may be a temptation to take advantage of the situation,” he told business leaders in Moscow.
Putin added this temptation could involve squandering the extra revenue, paying it out in company dividends or, in the state’s case, expanding budget spending.
“We must remain prudent. If the markets swing one way today, they could swing the other tomorrow,” he added.
“A moderate degree of conservatism and a moderately conservative approach are needed, both in the corporate sector and in public finances.”
On Wednesday, the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, told Reuters the US is making its offer of security guarantees for a peace deal in Ukraine conditional on Kyiv ceding all of the country’s eastern region of Donbas to Russia.
Zelenskyy said: “The Middle East definitely has an impact on President Trump, and I think on his next steps.
“President Trump, unfortunately, still chooses a strategy of putting more pressure on the Ukrainian side.
“I would very much like the American side to understand that the eastern part of our country is part of our security guarantees.”
Nonetheless, western intelligence assessments and experts generally believe Putin’s system of power is resilient, marked by elite cohesion and tight control over society.
Remeslo said he was under no illusion that he could face prosecution for his remarks. Russian authorities have previously dealt ruthlessly with internal challenges, even among prominent nationalists. They handed a lengthy prison sentence to Igor Girkin, a prominent former separatist commander and outspoken critic of Putin, and purged his allies. Moscow is also believed to have been behind the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the mercenary leader who launched a short-lived mutiny against the authorities and later died when his plane crashed in murky circumstances.
“I am ready for any trial against me,” Remeslo said. “The time has come to somehow break this vicious cycle and speak out. I bear a certain responsibility as someone who, for a long time, supported this regime and helped it survive.”
Infrastructure preparations suggest Russia is again trying to involve its ally Belarus in the war, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday. The Ukrainian president made his remarks, posted on Telegram, in response to what he said was an intelligence report issued by Ukraine’s top commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi.
“According to intelligence, road construction in areas leading to Ukraine and the establishment of artillery positions are going on in the Belarusian border area,” Zelenskyy wrote. “We believe that Russia will once again try to involve Belarus in its war.” He said Ukraine had issued instructions to warn the Belarusian leadership of “Ukraine’s readiness to defend its land and independence”. Zelenskyy also said intelligence showed that Russia was “attempting ... to carry out a regrouping of forces - most likely to compensate for a shortage of personnel”. “In this regard, it becomes more evident why the armed forces increased their activity on the territory of Belarus.” He did not provide further evidence. Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko, one of Vladimir Putin’s closest allies, allowed his territory to be used for part of Russia’s February 2022 invasion.
Zelenskyy said Kyiv’s wartime experience in the Black Sea could help to ensure freedom of navigation in the strait of Hormuz. “Decisions made regarding Hormuz now will determine how other aggressive actors perceive the possibility of creating problems in other straits and on other fronts,” he said in remarks to a video conference attended by 50 countries and chaired by France and Britain. “We need to be as specific and clear as possible so that in six months we don’t find ourselves in the same situation as in Gaza, where much still needs to be done.” Zelenskyy, whose remarks appeared on the Telegram messaging app, said that in the course of four years of war with Russia, Ukraine had “already carried out a very similar mission in the Black Sea”. He said: “Russia also attempted to blockade our sea and we have experience in escorting merchant vessels, demining, defending against air attacks and the overall coordination of such operations.” Ukraine, he said, had sent specialists throughout the Middle East to help countries benefit from its experience in defending against Russian drones, many designed in Iran. “We can also contribute to maritime security,” Zelenskyy said. Ukraine has clinched security cooperation agreements with Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates and says it is in talks with Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain.
Dasha Anastasia writes on contemporary
issues including geopolitical conflicts. She
is based in Moscow, Russian Federation.
