Putin Call w/Chinese Diplo Today As Relations Continue To Improve

Russian President Vladimir Putin's press secretary Dimitry Peskov has confirmed that Putin will hold a phone call today with Yang Jiechi, Director of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission Office, later today.

• Yang is viewed as one of China's most powerful actors in terms of foreign policy, with a particular focus on US-China relations. Yang was one of the two senior Chinese officials that met with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in an ill-tempered summit earlier this year in Alaska.
• The call comes after Yang travelled to Russia earlier in May to co-chair the 16th China-Russia strategic security consultation alongside secretary of Russia's Security Council Nikolai Patrushev.
• With poor relations persisting between the US and Russia, and between the US and China, Moscow has been seen to be increasingly viewing the international situation in the realpolitik terms of "my enemy's enemy is my friend". Earlier this year Putin hailed Sino-Russian relations as being at 'their highest point ever'.
• For the US a burgeoning Russia-China relationship is only likely to cause more concern with regards to managing geopolitical tensions both in the Asia-Pacific region and in Europe and the Middle East.