
Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed on a telephone call on Thursday what they saw as frictions between G7 leaders at this week’s Group of Seven summit, the Kremlin said.
At the meeting in Canada, the bloc of wealthy nations struggled to find unity over the war in Ukraine after U.S. President Donald Trump expressed support for Putin and left a day early to tackle the Israel-Iran conflict from Washington.
His departure deprived Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy of a chance to meet him and press for more U.S. weapons.
Putin and Xi “discussed the results of the recent G7 meeting in Canada. In particular, they noted the well-known rough edges that emerged in the relations between participants,” Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters.
“And, by the way, it was mentioned that for Zelenskiy this was by no means the most successful trip abroad.”
In a call lasting about an hour, the Kremlin said Xi and Putin discussed the Israel-Iran crisis, bilateral ties and cooperation within the BRICS group, set to hold a summit in Brazil next month, including an initiative for a new BRICS investment platform for the Global South.
—Reuters