Russia’s Putin and China’s Xi discuss their close ties in chat after Trump’s inauguration

Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Tuesday held a video call, Beijing’s state media reported. (AFP file photo)
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Updated 23 January 2025
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Russia’s Putin and China’s Xi discuss their close ties in chat after Trump’s inauguration

  • The two leaders discussed their prospective contacts with Trump’s administration during the video call that lasted more than 1 1/2 hours
  • In the call with Xi, Putin emphasized that Russia-China relations are based on shared interests, equality and mutual benefits

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke Tuesday with Chinese President Xi Jinping and emphasized their close ties a day after Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th US president.
The two leaders discussed their prospective contacts with Trump’s administration during the video call that lasted more than 1 1/2 hours, the Kremlin said.
They have developed strong, personal links that brought their relations even closer after Putin sent troops into Ukraine in 2022. China has become a major customer for Russian oil and gas and a source of key technologies amid sweeping Western sanctions on Moscow.
In the call with Xi, Putin emphasized that Russia-China relations are based on shared interests, equality and mutual benefits, noting they “don’t depend on internal political factors and the current international environment.”
“We jointly support the development of a more just, multipolar global order, and work to ensure indivisible security in Eurasia and the world as a whole,” Putin told Xi in remarks carried by Russian state TV. “Joint efforts by Russia and China play an important stabilizing role in global affairs.”
Xi similarly praised their close cooperation, expressing his readiness to work together with Putin to “lead China-Russia relations to a higher level, to cope with the uncertainty of the external environment with the stability and resilience of China-Russia relations,” and to “safeguard international fairness and justice.”
He emphasized that Russia and China should “continue to deepen strategic cooperation, firmly support each other, and safeguard the legitimate interests of the two countries.”
While neither leader directly mentioned Trump in the televised fragment of their call, the Kremlin said they touched upon prospective contacts with the new US administration.

The Chinese president spoke by phone Friday with Trump and expressed hope for positive ties with the US
Trump had threatened to impose tariffs and other measures against China in his second term, while also hinting at ways in which the two rival powers could cooperate on issues such as regional conflicts and curbing the export of substances used in the production of fentanyl.
Putin’s foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov told reporters the Putin-Xi call had been planned in advance and wasn’t specifically linked to Trump’s inauguration. But he noted that Xi briefed Putin about it.
Putin and Xi discussed “certain issues related to possible contacts with the US administration,” Ushakov added
Putin and Xi expressed readiness to develop ties with Washington on the basis of mutual benefit and respect if Trump’s team shows interest in that, he said.
Putin, who has yet to talk to Trump, congratulated him on taking office in televised remarks during a video call with officials and welcomed his intention to open a dialogue with Moscow.
Trump told reporters Monday after taking office that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had told him he wanted to make a peace deal and voiced hope that Putin would follow suit. He added that Putin would be destroying Russia by failing to make a deal, pointing out Russia’s economic troubles, including high inflation.
Ushakov dodged commenting on Trump’s statement, saying the Kremlin is waiting for “concrete proposals that could form the basis for contacts.”
“We are open and ready for serious dialogue with the new US administration on the Ukrainian conflict, and if relevant signals come from Washington, we would pick them up and stand ready to conduct talks,” he said, adding that the Kremlin hasn’t received any such signals yet.
On Monday, Putin praised Trump’s openness to dialogue as he spoke to Russia’s Security Council shortly before the inauguration.
“We hear the statements from Trump and members of his team about their desire to restore direct contact with Russia, which were halted through no fault of ours by the outgoing administration,” Putin had said. “We also hear his statements about the need to do everything to prevent World War III. We certainly welcome such an approach and congratulate the US president-elect on taking office.”
He also stressed that dialogue should be based on “equal basis and mutual respect, taking into account the important role our countries play on some key issues on the global agenda, including the strengthening of global stability and security.”
Moscow is open to dialogue with the Trump administration on Ukraine, Putin said, emphasizing the need to respect Russia’s interests and adding that “the most important thing is to remove the root causes of the crisis.”
“As for the settlement of the situation, I would like to underline that its goal should not be a short truce, not some kind of respite for regrouping forces and rearmament with the aim of subsequently continuing the conflict, but a long-term peace based on respect for the legitimate interests of all people, all nations living in this region,” he said.


15 killed in head-on road crash in South Africa

Updated 12 sec ago
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15 killed in head-on road crash in South Africa

  • South Africa has a sophisticated and busy road network
  • Road accidents claimed more than 11,800 lives in 2023
JOHANNESBURG: A night-time collision between a packed minibus taxi and a pick-up truck has killed 15 people in rural South Africa, a transport official said on Sunday.
Five people were in hospital with serious injuries after the crash at around midnight on Saturday to Sunday near the Eastern Cape town of Maqoma, about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) south of Johannesburg, provincial transport spokesman Unathi Binqose official told broadcaster Newzroom Afrika.
The drivers of both vehicles were among the dead and an inquest would be opened to determine what happened, Binqose said.
The victims included 13 passengers in the minibus, which was reportedly traveling from the town of Qonce to Cape Town, a journey of nearly 1,000 kilometers.
South Africa has a sophisticated and busy road network. It also has a high rate of road deaths, blamed mostly on speeding, reckless driving and unroadworthy vehicles.
Road accidents claimed more than 11,800 lives in 2023, with pedestrians making up around 45 percent of the victims, according to the latest data from the Road Traffic Management Corporation.

Putin says he hopes there will be no need to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine

Updated 26 min 21 sec ago
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Putin says he hopes there will be no need to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine

  • Fear of nuclear escalation has been a factor in US officials’ thinking since Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin said in comments broadcast on Sunday said that the need to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine had not arisen, and that he hoped it would not arise.
In a fragment of an upcoming interview with Russian state television published on Telegram, Putin said that Russia has the strength and the means to bring the conflict in Ukraine to a “logical conclusion.”
Responding to a question about Ukrainian strikes on Russia from a state television reporter, Putin said: “There has been no need to use those (nuclear) weapons ... and I hope they will not be required.”
He said: “We have enough strength and means to bring what was started in 2022 to a logical conclusion with the outcome Russia requires.”
Putin in February 2022 ordered tens of thousands of Russian troops into Ukraine, in what the Kremlin calls a “special military operation” against its neighbor.
Though Russian troops were repelled from Kyiv, Moscow’s forces currently control around 20 percent of Ukraine, including much of the south and east.
Putin has in recent weeks expressed willingness to negotiate a peace settlement, as US President Donald Trump has said he wants to end the conflict via diplomatic means.
Fear of nuclear escalation has been a factor in US officials’ thinking since Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022. Former CIA Director William Burns has said there was a real risk in late 2022 that Russia could use nuclear weapons against Ukraine.


Chinese president to visit Russia on May 7-10

Updated 53 min 49 sec ago
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Chinese president to visit Russia on May 7-10

MOSCOW : Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit Russia on May 7-10 and join Vladimir Putin at the 80th commemoration of the Allied victory against Nazi Germany, the Kremlin said on Sunday.
The Russian president’s office said Xi would also hold bilateral talks with Putin and the two were expected to sign “a series of bilateral documents.”


Vehicle crashes into entrance at Manila airport, killing 2 people including a 4-year-old girl

Updated 04 May 2025
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Vehicle crashes into entrance at Manila airport, killing 2 people including a 4-year-old girl

  • Dozens of emergency personnel could be seen at Ninoy Aquino International Airport surrounding a black SUV that had rammed into a wall by an entrance

MANILA, Philippines: A vehicle crashed into an entrance at Manila’s airport on Sunday morning, leaving two people dead including a 4-year-old girl, according to the Philippine Red Cross.
The other victim was an adult male, the humanitarian group said in a statement.
Other people were injured in the incident and the driver of the vehicle was in police custody, according to the airport’s operator, New NAIA Infra Co, and the Red Cross.
Dozens of emergency personnel could be seen at Ninoy Aquino International Airport surrounding a black SUV that had rammed into a wall by an entrance. The vehicle was later removed from the site.
The airport operator said it is coordinating with the authorities to investigate the incident.


Australia’s reelected government says US-China tussle a top priority

Updated 04 May 2025
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Australia’s reelected government says US-China tussle a top priority

  • Government sees US-China trade war, global economy as priorities
  • Albanese emphasizes disciplined government, unity after decisive reelection victory

SYDNEY, Australia: Australia’s Labor government will prioritize dealing with the “dark shadow” of the US-China trade war following its resounding re-election victory, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said on Sunday, after a campaign that highlighted concerns over US trade policy and the global economy.
Labour Party leader Anthony Albanese, Australia’s first prime minister to win a second consecutive term in two decades, promised in remarks on Sunday that he would run a disciplined and orderly government, stressing that Australians had voted for unity.
The center-left Labour Party appeared likely to expand its majority in parliament to at least 86 seats from 77, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. projected, after most polls had suggested it would struggle to keep its slim hold on the 150-seat lower house. About three-quarters of votes have been tallied, with counting to resume on Monday.
Echoing an election in Canada less than a week earlier, Australia’s conservative opposition leader, Peter Dutton, lost his seat as voters, who initially focused on cost-of-living pressures, grew increasingly concerned over US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs and other policies.
“We will be a disciplined, orderly government in our second term, just like we have been in our first,” Albanese told reporters while visiting a coffee shop in his Sydney electorate where he said his late mother took him as a child.
“The Australian people voted for unity rather than division,” Albanese added in brief public comments.
Polls had shown Labor trailing the opposition conservative coalition for nine months until March, amid widespread angst about the government’s handling of inflation.
But the polls flipped when the conservatives unveiled a proposal to slash the federal workforce, which was compared to the Trump administration’s moves to cut back government agencies. A proposal to force federal workers back to the office five days a week was also criticized as unfair to women.
Trump’s April 2 tariff announcement added to voters’ unease as it sent shockwaves through global markets and raised concerns about the impact on their pension funds.
“The immediate focus is on global economic uncertainty, US and China, and what it means for us,” Treasurer Jim Chalmers told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
“What’s happening, particularly between the US and China, does cast a dark shadow over the global economy ... We need to have the ability, and we will have the ability, to manage that uncertainty.”
Representatives of the US and China joined leaders from around the world congratulating Albanese and his party.
The US “looks forward to deepening its relationship with Australia to advance our common interests and promote freedom and stability in the Indo-Pacific and globally,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.
A spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry said the country “stands ready to work with the new Australian government (to) continue advancing a more mature, stable, and productive comprehensive strategic partnership.”
Senior figures in Australia’s conservative coalition meanwhile began apportioning blame for the loss as it begins the search for a new leader.
Mark Speakman, leader of the coalition’s main Liberal party for the state of New South Wales, said the party needed to connect its values of “aspiration, innovation and opportunity” to “modern day NSW, including for women and people from non-English speaking backgrounds.”
Simon Birmingham, a former finance minister who quit before the election, said in a LinkedIn post that “there must be a reshaping of the party to connect it with the modern Australian community.”
“Based on who’s not voting Liberal, it must start with women,” Birmingham wrote. “Based on where they’re not voting Liberal, it must focus on metropolitan Australia.”