Xi and Putin highlight their friendship and cooperation on energy and other issues in Beijing visit

BEIJING (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin praised his close ties with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and said their countries are partners in trade and international affairs as they opened bilateral talks Wednesday on his trip to Beijing.

Xi welcomed Putin with a ceremony at the Great Hall of the People only days after meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump. The quick succession of Trump’s and Putin’s visits highlighted Beijing’s growing role as an international superpower, experts say.

Putin greeted Xi warmly as they met for bilateral talks at the Great Hall of the People.

“My dear friend,” Putin said. “We are truly delighted to see you. We keep in constant touch, both personally and through our aides in the government.”

Xi also stressed the “political mutual trust and strategic cooperation” between the countries, according to Chinese state media. The two leaders have praised each other profusely in the past, with Xi at one point describing Putin as his “best and most intimate friend.”

Xi and Putin were set to focus on energy and security as well as their overall ties. The two sides agreed to extend a friendship treaty first signed in 2001, Chinese state media reported.

China became Russia’s top trading partner after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Beijing has said it is neutral in the conflict while maintaining trade ties with the Kremlin despite economic and financial sanctions by the U.S. and Europe.

China is the top customer for Russian oil and gas supplies, and Moscow expects the war in Iran to increase the demand.

In his meeting with Xi, Putin stressed their countries’ economic ties.

“The driving force behind economic cooperation is Russian-Chinese collaboration in the energy sector,” Putin said. “Amid the crisis in the Middle East, Russia continues to maintain its role as a reliable supplier of resources, while China remains a responsible consumer of these resources.”

Xi stressed the need of “complete cessation of hostilities” in the Middle East, according to Chinese state media.

“An early end to the conflict will help reduce disruptions to energy supply stability, the smooth flow of industrial and supply chains, and international trade order,” Xi said.

A Russian presidential aide said earlier Russia’s oil exports to China grew by 35% in the first quarter of 2026 and that Russia is one of the biggest exporters of natural gas to China.

Putin also stressed China and Russia’s cooperation in foreign policy as “one of the key stabilizing factors on the international stage.”

“In the current tense situation on the international stage, our close cooperation is particularly in demand,” he said.

In February 2022, just weeks before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, China and Russia announced a “no limits” partnership during a trip by Putin to Beijing.

Beijing says it is neutral in the conflict, though in practice it supports Moscow through frequent state visits, growing trade and joint military drills. China has also ignored demands from the West to stop providing high-tech components for Russia’s weapons industries.

The two leaders are scheduled to sign cooperation agreements during Putin’s two-day visit.

But regardless of specific deals, the primary purpose of the visit is to reaffirm the countries’ ties as well as project Beijing’s image as an influential superpower, experts say.

“The optics matter,” said Steve Tsang, director of the SOAS China Institute at the University of London.

“The message is clearly one that China maintains friendship and strategic partnership with whichever power it likes, and the USA is just one of them.”

Putin and Xi both need to use their close ties in order to prop up their images at home, said Willy Lam, a senior China fellow at the Jamestown Foundation.

Putin “needs to tell his countrymen and the world that Russia has China’s support in terms of buying its oil and gas and other tangible and intangible financial support,” Lam said.

Meanwhile, for Xi, having both Trump and Putin visit in such close succession is a major source of credit with the country’s top Communist leadership.

Putin noted earlier this month that Moscow and Beijing have reached “a very substantial step forward in our cooperation in the oil and gas sector.”

“Practically all the key issues have been agreed upon,” he said. “If we succeed in finalizing these details and bringing them to a conclusion during this visit, I will be extremely pleased.”

Putin also praised their bilateral relationship as a crucial, balancing force in international relations.

“Interaction between such nations as China and Russia undoubtedly serves as a factor of deterrence and stability,” he said.

Moscow welcomes China’s dialogue with the U.S. as another stabilizing element for the global economy, Putin added.

“We stand only to benefit from this, from the stability and constructive engagement between the U.S. and China,” he said.

Mistreanu reported from Bangkok.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping attend a bilateral meeting at the Great Hall of the People, in Beijing, China, on Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Chinese President Xi Jinping shake hands during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People, in Beijing, China, on Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, and Chinese President Xi Jinping attend a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People, in Beijing, China, on Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Children holding Russian and Chinese flags walk ahead of a welcoming ceremony for Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (Maxim Shemetov/Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, walks with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (Maxim Shemetov/Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, foreground and Chinese President Xi Jinping attend a welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (Maxim Shemetov/Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Chinese President Xi Jinping attend a welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (Maxim Shemetov/Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Chinese President Xi Jinping inspect an honor guard during a welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (Maxim Shemetov/Pool Photo via AP)

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama will get a rematch between two high-profile nominees for governor while candidates of both major parties will head to runoff elections next month for an open U.S. Senate seat.

Republican U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville and former U.S. Sen. Doug Jones, a Democrat, easily won their respective primaries for governor on Tuesday, setting up their second head-to-head contest after Tuberville unseated Jones six years ago.

Jones was elected to the U.S. Senate in a special election in 2017 but his time in office was short-lived in the heavily Republican state. He is hoping voters’ frustrations with their Republican-dominated government, including on issues like healthcare and the rising cost of living, will propel him to another rare Democratic victory in the Deep South.

“Change means rising wages, including raising the minimum wage,” Jones said. “Change means expanding Medicaid to make healthcare affordable. Change means better jobs.”

Tuberville’s decision to enter the governor's race ignited a fierce battle among Republicans for an open Senate seat that is all but certain to stay red.

The runoff for the U.S. Senate slot for Republican and Democratic nominees will be held June 16. Congressional maps may soon change, based on the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision that severely weakened the Voting Rights Act. That opens the possibility of new primaries in August under a redrawn map, which has confused many voters.

The November governor’s race will feature a rematch between Tuberville and Jones, who is seeking a political comeback.

Tuberville, a former college football coach, said he is often asked about running against Jones for a second time, but he framed the race as one of competing ideologies.

“I’m not running against him. I’m really not. I’m running against socialism and communism,” Tuberville said. “I’m running against an ideology that is so bad, that is so far left, that has nothing to do with the last 250 years, that this country has been great.”

Jones said his campaign is about the belief that the state doesn't have to accept the way things have been with current leadership.

“For too long, folks in Montgomery have worked only for themselves and the powerful people who put them there,” Jones said.

Tuberville defeated Jones in 2020 after Tuberville was endorsed by President Donald Trump, who also has backed his bid for governor.

Jones, the last Democrat to win statewide election in Alabama, became a national figure after his unlikely 2017 win.

During the primary, opponent Ken McFeeters accused Tuberville of not meeting the legal requirement to have lived in the state for seven years. Tuberville maintains he met the residency requirement, and the Alabama Republican Party dismissed McFeeters’ challenge.

U.S. Rep. Barry Moore advanced to a runoff for the Republican nomination. He is a three-term congressman and member of the House's conservative Freedom Caucus who has said Alabama deserves a “Trump conservative” in the Senate.

“We’re going to win this thing, and God’s going to bless this great nation,” Moore told supporters Tuesday night.

Trump endorsed Moore in the race giving him a boost in the crowded GOP field. During a brief telephone rally Monday night, Trump said, “Barry is going to do a fantastic job. He will fight for you in the Senate.”

Moore, who owns an industrial waste hauling business, said through the campaign that he would be the man to “take out the trash” in Washington.

“God’s going to send a garbage man to the United States Senate,” Moore said Tuesday.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall and former Navy SEAL Jared Hudson were in a tight race for the other runoff slot, which was too early to call.

Marshall has stressed his record, including his work with other Republican-led states in filing court actions that challenged former President Joe Biden's policies and supported Trump.

On the Democratic side, business owner Dakarai Larriett and lawyer Everett Wess are heading to a runoff, but either of them would face an uphill climb in deep-red Alabama.

Alabama voters cast ballots Tuesday, but a redistricting fight has confused many.

Residents in all seven congressional districts voted, but the state currently plans to void the results in four districts and hold new primaries in August under a different map.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has scheduled special primary elections on Aug. 11 for the 1st, 2nd, 6th and 7th Congressional Districts. The change comes after the state got permission to switch to a different congressional map that could help Republicans pick up a House seat in November.

Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen said the Tuesday votes will be tabulated in the four affected Alabama congressional districts but will be “void for the purposes of determining the party nominees.” The Aug. 11 primary will determine those nominees in winner-take-all races without a runoff, he said.

The biggest change occurs to the 2nd Congressional District now represented by Democratic Rep. Shomari Figures. The district now stretches from Mobile through Montgomery to the Georgia border.

However, the district lines remain the subject of litigation. The NAACP Legal Defense Find and other groups are seeking to stop the use of the new map. If they are successful, the winner of the Tuesday primary will determine the party nominees.

But if they're not and the new map goes forward, the Aug. 11 special primary will decide which nominees will appear on ballots in November.

Anthony Lee, 80, said he was upset about the state’s effort to switch congressional maps but was unsure where the dispute stood.

“I’m totally against them changing maps,” Lee said while walking up to his 2nd Congressional District polling place in Tuskegee. “It’s diluting the Black vote.”

Former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Jay Mitchell and Katherine Robertson, the chief counsel for Attorney General Steve Marshall, have advanced to a runoff for the Republican nomination for attorney general.

The winner of the Republican primary will face Jeff McLaughlin, a former state legislator who ran unopposed in the Democratic primary.

An outside group funded an advertisement critical of Mitchell for writing the main court opinion that led to in vitro fertilization clinics in the state temporarily shutting down. The ruling said frozen embryos could be considered “unborn children” and that couples could pursue wrongful death claims after their embryos were destroyed in a hospital accident.

The 2024 decision relied on an Alabama law from 1872. Mitchell said he supports IVF and that the ad is distorting the facts of the case.

FILE - Former Sen. Doug Jones, D-Ala., and gubernatorial candidate speaks during an event, Dec. 12, 2025, in Birmingham, Ala. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File)

FILE - Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., speaks to the crowd as protesters gather outside the Supreme Court as it hears arguments over state laws barring transgender girls and women from playing on school athletic teams, Jan. 13, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)

FILE - Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, Jared Hudson poses for a for a photo during the Stars of the State luncheon sponsored by the Wiregrass Republican Women, May 7, 2026, in Enterprise, Ala. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart, File)

FILE - Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, Steve Marshall poses for a for a photo during the Stars of the State luncheon sponsored by the Wiregrass Republican Women, May 7, 2026, in Enterprise, Ala. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart, File)

FILE - Rep. Barry Moore, left, and Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas during a House Judiciary Committee Field Hearing, April 17, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

This combination of photos shows Republican candidates for U.S. Senate, from left, Jared Hudson on May 7, 2026, in Enterprise, Ala., Rep. Barry Moore on April 17, 2023, in New York, center, and Steve Marshall on May 7, 2026, in Enterprise, Ala., right. (AP Photo)