Introduction

Caleb Brown: What does China owe Russia? Not much. And that fact matters when considering war in Ukraine and the recent meeting between Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, Kato's Eric Gomez says. "I think there's this idea that China might be this key to pressuring Russia," he says. But it has been very careful not to get on the wrong side of US or Western sanctions while also providing Russia with some diplomatic support, but almost no material support, beyond just general trade.