BEIJING (AP) — Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed their strategic ties and growing energy trade as they met in Beijing Wednesday only days after a visit by U.S. President Donald Trump to China.

Putin and Xi oversaw the signing of more than 40 cooperation agreements in areas such as trade, technology and media exchanges. They stressed their growing trade, particularly in oil and natural gas, and declared themselves aligned on international relations.

The countries’ ties have reached “the highest level in history,” Xi said after the signing ceremony, speaking to members of the delegations and journalists. The two sides also agreed to extend a friendship treaty first signed in 2001.

Putin told those in the room that “the driving force behind economic cooperation is Russian-Chinese collaboration in the energy sector.”

“Amid the crisis in the Middle East, Russia continues to maintain its role as a reliable supplier of resources, while China remains a responsible consumer of these resources,” Putin added, an apparent reference to the U.S. war in Iran.

Xi stressed the need for a “complete cessation of hostilities” in the Middle East, according to Chinese state media.

“An early end to the conflict will help reduce disruptions to energy supply stability, the smooth flow of industrial and supply chains, and international trade order,” Xi said.

In the evening, Xi and Putin had a conversation over tea in the Great Hall of the People, where the Chinese leader expressed confidence in continuing to strengthen the relationship between the two countries, according to state media. Putin later left for the airport and departed on his official plane.

A growing trade relationship

China became Russia’s top trading partner after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Beijing has said it is neutral in the conflict while maintaining trade ties with the Kremlin despite economic and financial sanctions by the U.S. and Europe.

China is also the top customer for Russian oil and gas supplies, and Moscow expects the war in Iran to increase the demand. There was no visible progress, however, on the prospective Power of Siberia 2 natural gas pipeline that Russia has pushed to boost exports to China.

A Russian presidential aide said earlier that Russia’s oil exports to China grew by 35% in the first quarter of 2026 and that Russia is one of the biggest exporters of natural gas to China.

Bilateral trade between the two countries reached around $228 billion in 2025, according to Xinhua news agency.

Xi said trade in areas like energy served as “stabilizing pillars” of the relationship and pledged to accelerate cooperation in other areas, like artificial intelligence, the digital economy and technological innovation.

Xi and Putin show a united front on international affairs

The trip comes just days after Trump’s own visit to Beijing -– in a sequence that is meant to cement China’s image as an influential superpower, experts say.

“The message is clearly one that China maintains friendship and strategic partnership with whichever power it likes, and the USA is just one of them,” said Steve Tsang, director of the SOAS China Institute at the University of London.

Putin also described China and Russia’s cooperation in foreign policy as “one of the key stabilizing factors on the international stage.”

“In the current tense situation on the international stage, our close cooperation is particularly in demand,” he said.

Xi also repeated criticisms of “unilateralism and hegemonism,” in what appeared to be a veiled reference to U.S. actions. He said “the world faces the danger of reverting to the law of the jungle.”

In February 2022, just weeks before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, China and Russia announced a “no limits” partnership during a trip by Putin to Beijing.

Beijing says it is neutral in the conflict, though in practice it supports Moscow through frequent state visits, growing trade and joint military drills. China has also ignored demands from the West to stop providing high-tech components for Russia’s weapons industries.

Putin invited Xi to visit Russia in 2027 and said he would take part in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in November in southern China.

Xi and Putin praise each other as ‘friends’

Both Putin and Xi continued to praise their close personal ties.

“My dear friend,” Putin said as he greeted Xi. “We are truly delighted to see you. We keep in constant touch, both personally and through our aides in the government.”

Xi also addressed Putin as “my longtime friend” at the start of their talks and said it was important to build upon “the foundation of mutual trust” between the countries. The two leaders have praised each other profusely in the past, with Xi at one point describing Putin as his “best and most intimate friend.”

Putin and Xi both need to use their close ties in order to prop up their images at home, said Willy Lam, a senior China fellow at the Jamestown Foundation.

Putin “needs to tell his countrymen and the world that Russia has China’s support in terms of buying its oil and gas and other tangible and intangible financial support,” Lam said.

Meanwhile, for Xi, having both Trump and Putin visit in such close succession is a major source of credit with the country’s top Communist leadership.

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Mistreanu reported from Bangkok.

A federal judge on Wednesday orderedWhite House personnel to continue complying with the decades-old Presidential Records Act after the Justice Department argued in a legal opinion last month that the law was “unconstitutional” and that President Donald Trump has the authority to destroy presidential records from his term.

In response to a lawsuit challenging that memo, U.S. District Judge John Bates found the 1978 law is likely constitutional and issued a preliminary injunction effectively blocking the legal opinion, released by the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel.

“On the merits, the Records Act is likely constitutional. It was validly enacted by Congress under the Property Clause because Congress may prospectively designate presidential records as federal property and then regulate that property,” Bates wrote in the 54-page ruling.

The Presidential Records Actwhich Congress passed in the wake of the Watergate scandalestablishes that presidential records belong to the public and must be preserved and eventually transferred to the National Archives. Bates noted that the OLC’s legal opinion on the Records Act relied on a “stark misreading” of Supreme Court precedent when it decided that Trump “need not further comply” with the act.

He also rejected the Justice Department’s argument that the act was unconstitutional because presidential papers were considered personal property until the the law was enacted in 1978.

Bates’ latest ruling directs administration officials to comply with requirements under the law, which mandates the preservation of official presidential records and communications generated during government business. The judge said U.S. officials must take steps to ensure records are retained in accordance with federal law.

Though Bates ordered White House personnel to comply with the law, the judge stopped short of directly ordering Trump and Vice President JD Vance to do so. Bates noted that courts generally may not “enjoin the President in the performance of his official duties.”

The order also excludes the National Archives and Records Administration, the archivist, the Justice Department and the attorney general.

The order takes effect May 26.

The case was brought in April after watchdog groups American Oversight and the American Historical Association sued the Trump administration over the OLC’s legal memo. The lawsuit alleged that the administration “believes that the President is legally free to destroy records of his official government conduct, or even spirit away the records for his own future personal use.”

Bates emphasized that federal law requires the preservation of records documenting presidential decision-making and official government activities. The court stopped short of finding officials intentionally violated the law but said safeguards must be put in place to prevent the destruction or disappearance of records.

American Oversight praised the ruling as an “important victory for presidential accountability and for affirming what decades of law and practice already established.”

“The court recognized the serious danger posed by the administration’s attempt to cast aside longstanding federal law governing presidential records and replace it with a system dependent largely on presidential discretion and public trust,” American Oversight executive director Chioma Chukwu said in a statement.

Sarah Weicksel, executive director of the American Historical Association, said in a statement that Bates’ ruling is a reminder that presidential records belong to the public — not the president.

“This ruling reaffirms the essential place of presidential records in documenting our nation’s history and a core principle of the Presidential Records Act: that these records belong to the American people, not to any one individual,” Weicksel said.

The White House and the Department of Justice did not immediately respond to MS NOW’s request for comment.

It was not immediately clear whether the administration would appeal the decision.

Ebony Davis is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW based in Washington, D.C. She previously worked at BLN as a campaign reporter covering elections and politics.