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 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.

By Dmitry Antonov and Guy Faulconbridge MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russian President Vladimir Putin held a video call with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday in which he proposed further developing their strategic partnership just hours after Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States.

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

FILE PHOTO: Russia's President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping take part in an official welcoming ceremony for delegations' heads at the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, 23 October 2024. MAXIM SHIPENKOV/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

Any conversation between the two would mark the first time a sitting U.S. president and Putin have spoken since the war in Ukraine began, although former President Joe Biden held phone calls with Putin multiple times in the leadup to Moscow's invasion to urge Putin against it.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to hold a phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump and Moscow is waiting for word from Washington that it is ready too, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.

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.

MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke Tuesday with ... expressing his readiness to work together with Putin to “lead China-Russia relations to a higher level, to cope with the ...

Putin and Xi praised strong bilateral ties, highlighting shared interests and global stability, as Trump began his term as the 47th US president.View on euronews

In our news wrap Friday, Hamas announced the names of four Israeli hostages it intends to release as part of the ceasefire deal, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said Israeli forces might not withdraw from Lebanon by the deadline set in an agreement with Hezbollah and President Trump ended the government-funded protection detail for Dr.