MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin had a call Tuesday 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.

China's envoy to the United Nations has inadvertently disparaged Russia's military, countering U.S. criticism by claiming Moscow's forces would be better positioned in Ukraine if they were being supported by China's armed forces.

The US President has previously called for tariffs as high as 60% on China, and analysts have expressed mixed feelings about the news.

During his first term in office, U.S. President Donald Trump applied his particular brand of diplomacy with Washington's adversaries, publicly befriending Russia and North Korea while separately piling pressure on China and Iran.

China and Russia's growing military cooperation and hybrid warfare tactics are creating new challenges for the Trump administration.

China's largest airline, China Southern Airlines, has suspended flights from Beijing to Moscow at the end of January, a surprise move that comes just ahead of the Chinese New Year. Newsweek reached out to China Southern Airlines and the Russian Foreign Ministry with an emailed request for comment outside of office hours.

All three countries are adversaries of the United States, and Russia has used its ties with them to help blunt the impact of Western sanctions and boost its war effort in Ukraine. Presidents Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping met in Beijing on Feb.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had a call Tuesday with Chinese President Xi Jinping, emphasizing the two countries’ close ties, a day after Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th

The two leaders have developed strong personal ties that helped boost relations between Moscow and Beijing, growing even closer after Putin sent troops into Ukraine in 2022.

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.

The BRICS group of emerging-market powers — the acronym stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — has gone from a slogan dreamed up at an investment bank two decades ago to a real-world club that controls a multilateral lender.