By Dmitry Antonov and Guy Faulconbridge MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russian President Vladimir Putin held a video call with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday in which he proposed further developing their strategic partnership just hours after Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States.

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.

The president still won’t say whether he has had a recent conversation with Russia’s Vladimir Putin. It’s not clear why he won’t answer the question.

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.

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

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.

FILE PHOTO: Russia's President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping take part in an official welcoming ceremony for delegations' heads at the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, 23 October 2024. MAXIM SHIPENKOV/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

Any conversation between the two would mark the first time a sitting U.S. president and Putin have spoken since the war in Ukraine began, although former President Joe Biden held phone calls with Putin multiple times in the leadup to Moscow's invasion to urge Putin against it.

Three years after launching his “special military operation” in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin faces a looming choice. In public, he exudes optimism. He has pulled his country back from the abyss and,

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.

Putin and Xi praised strong bilateral ties, highlighting shared interests and global stability, as Trump began his term as the 47th US president.View on euronews

Russian President Vladimir Putin has spoken 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