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

Chinese leader Xi Jinping may push Russian President Vladimir Putin towards peace, as Russia's economy heavily depends on China, states Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in an interview with Bloomberg.

MOSCOW/BEIJING (Reuters) -Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed on Tuesday how to build ties with Donald Trump, prospects for a peace deal to end the war in Ukraine and Moscow's firm support for Beijing's position on Taiwan.

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.

President Trump said Tuesday it was likely he would impose additional sanctions on Russia if it did not come to the negotiating table to broker a ceasefire in Ukraine. “Sounds likely,”

Following Trump's inauguration, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin held a virtual meeting to strengthen bilateral relations between China and Russia.

The Russian and Chinese leaders spoke to each other via video call on Tuesday, just a day after Donald Trump's inauguration.

We build our ties on the basis of friendship, mutual trust and support, equality and mutual benefit. These connections are self-sufficient, independent of domestic political factors and the current global situation,

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, via video link, Mr Trump says US efforts to secure a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine were hopefully underway

President Donald Trump is threatening to impose stiff taxes, tariffs and sanctions on Russia if an agreement isn’t reached to end the war in Ukraine.

Russia will return to Europe with an army 10 times the size of that which invaded Ukraine in 2022, Volodymyr Zelensky warns