Beijing has pledged to elevate the relationship with Moscow to new heights this year, hours after Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th US President.The Chinese President Xi Jinping, during a video conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday,

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.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping vowed to take his country’s ties with Russia to a new level this year in a video conference with counterpart Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, hours after the inauguration of US President Donald Trump.

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

In the 1.5-hour video call, the leaders discussed the need to “cope with the uncertainty of the external environment”.

Russian President Vladimir Putin told Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday that Moscow and Beijing's foreign policy ties played a stabilising role in international affairs.

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.

China and Russia declared a "no limits" partnership in February 2022 when Putin visited Beijing, days before he sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine. Putin has in recent months described China as an "ally".

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

Chinese President Xi Jinping reaffirmed ties with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, as the two face a more geopolitically assertive US government led by Donald Trump, who criticised the Kremlin's war against Ukraine on the first day of his second term as president.

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,”