By April Lanux

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

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.

The two leaders have developed strong personal links that helped bring relations between Moscow and Beijing, growing even closer after Putin sent troops into Ukraine in 2022. China has become a major customer of Russian oil and gas and a source of key technologies amid sweeping Western sanctions on Moscow.

In Tuesday’s call with Xi, Putin emphasized that Russia-China relations are based on shared interests, equality and mutual benefits, noting that 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 the Russian state TV. “Joint efforts by Russia and China play an important stabilizing role in global affairs.”

Xi similarly praised close cooperation between Moscow and Beijing, saying it helps “bring positive energy to reforming and developing the global system.”

While neither leader directly mentioned Trump in the televised fragment of their call, the timing of the conversation may signal that Putin and Xi want to coordinate their action in dialogue with the new U.S. administration.

The Chinese president had a call with Trump on Friday and expressed hope for positive ties with the U.S.

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, who is 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 Zelenskyy 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.

Putin hailed Trump’s openness to dialogue as he spoke to Russia’s Security Council members shortly before the U.S. president's 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 said on Monday. ”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 U.S. president-elect on taking office.”

The Russian leader also stressed that dialogue between the two nations 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.”

Putin also noted that Moscow is open to dialogue with the Trump administration on the conflict in Ukraine, 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,” Putin said.

By Richard Thompson

The Italian authorities freed Iranian engineer Abedini Najafabadi Mohammad on Sunday and he flew home to Iran soon after, ANSA news agency reported.

Abedini was arrested on 16 December by the Italian authorities at Milan Malpensa airport under a US warrant and had been held in prison in the city.

The US Justice Department accused Abedini, along with another Iranian citizen, of supplying Iran with drone technology used in the January 2024 attack on a US outpost in Jordan, which killed three American soldiers.

Many political commentators believe a deal may have been struck whereby Italy promised to free Abedini if Iran release the Italian journalist Cecilia Sala from prison, which Tehran did last week.

However, neither the United States, nor Italy, nor Iran have confirmed whether a deal was in fact struck.

Three days after his arrest Cecilia Sala, a freelance journalist with Il Foglio newspaper and Chora Media, was arrested in Tehran on charges of violating the laws of the Islamic Republic. After 21 days of imprisonment in Evin prison, Sala was freed and returned to Italy on Wednesday 8 January.