China’s Xi speaks to Trump after virtual meeting with Russia’s Putin

ISTANBUL 

China’s President Xi Jinping on Wednesday held back-to-back conversations with the Russian and US presidents.

Xi talked to US President Donald Trump over the phone, Xinhua News reported.

Beijing had yet to release more details of the conversation between Xi and Trump, which came hours after the Chinese president held a virtual call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

This marked the first such phone conversations by Xi with Putin and Trump this year.

Xi’s conversations with Putin and Trump came amid tensions between the US and Iran as well as efforts to end the war in Ukraine, as the second phase of trilateral talks between Kyiv, Moscow and Washington began in the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday.

“As responsible major countries and permanent members of the UN Security Council, China and Russia are duty-bound to pool global efforts to firmly uphold fairness and justice, firmly defend the victorious outcomes of WWII, firmly safeguard the UN-centered international system and the basic norms of international law, and jointly maintain global strategic stability,” Xi told Putin during the videoconference.

While ties between China and Russia have grown in recent years, with trade volume at around $200 billion last year, Beijing and Washington have seen ties stabilize after Xi and Trump met late last year in South Korea.