Chinese President Xi Jinping reaffirmed ties with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, as the two face a more geopolitically assertive US government led by Donald Trump, who criticised the Kremlin's war against Ukraine on the first day of his second term as president.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping vowed to take his country’s ties with Russia to a new level this year in a video conference with counterpart Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, hours after the inauguration of US President Donald Trump.

He also said, however, that the call was "not connected with Trump's inauguration in any way". The call lasted about one-and-a-half hours, during which Putin and Xi also discussed