OPINION-COLUMN | Beyond bromance: Xi-Putin summit a nod to China’s superpower status

May 23, 2026May 23, 2026 Editor 0 Comment OPINION-COLUMN | Beyond bromance: Xi-Putin summit a nod to China’s superpower status

Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) and Chinese President Xi Jinping following their meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, on May 20.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping posing for photos before a tea ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on May 20./ PHOTO: REUTERS

Ravi Velloor

Senior Columnist

A 35-year veteran of the trade, Ravi has reported from across Asia and the US. Formerly foreign editor and South Asia bureau chief of The Straits Times, he is as much at ease with global business and macroeconomic issues as he is with diplomacy and international politics. A Jefferson Fellow, Ravi previously worked with Bloomberg News, Time Warner magazines and Agence France-Presse.

Russia is happy to play junior partner partly because it needs this relationship but also because it accepts the new world order.

“Not seeing you for one day feels like being apart for three autumns,” he told his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in his speech, borrowing a Chinese proverb to emphasise his point about close bilateral ties which have seen the two meet more than 40 times as leaders of their respective nations.