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

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.

US President Donald Trump has acknowledged Kyiv’s readiness for a “deal” to end the Russia-Ukraine war, but it takes two to tango. He is now signaling to China, urging joint efforts to persuade Vladimir Putin to reach a peaceful resolution.

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.

Russian elites are growing increasingly concerned about the dominance of a pro-China clan within the Kremlin and Beijing's "colonial" attitude towards Moscow.

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.

The ‘dear friends’ discuss Taiwan, the war in Ukraine, and future relations with the US, pledging to ‘defend their legitimate interests’

Chinese President Xi Jinping held a meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin via a video link on Tuesday, state broadcaster CCTV reported. The talks came hours after US President Donald Trump returned to the White House and said he would meet Putin “very soon”.

In the 1.5-hour video call, the leaders discussed the need to “cope with the uncertainty of the external environment”.

China's President Xi Jinping spoke with Russia's Vladimir Putin over video call on Tuesday, Chinese national broadcaster CCTV said.

Trump should reflect on the ramifications of his comments about Canada, Greenland and the Panama Canal.

Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping share a broad world view, which portrays the West as decadent and in decline as China challenges U.S. supremacy in many areas.