US President Donald Trump's abrupt pivot to Russia will remould Moscow's ties with China but is unlikely to prise apart its flourishing partnership with Beijing, analysts say.

China pushed back against recent remarks by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, declaring that Washington could never "sow discord" in its ties with Moscow. Newsweek reached out to the White House and the Russian Foreign Ministry via email for comment.

U.S. Ambassador Dorothy Camille Shea, left, confers with China Ambassador Fu Song In the UN Security Council, Monday, Feb. 24, 2025, at the United Nations headquarters. (AP Photo/)

U.S. President Barack Obama announced America’s “pivot to Asia”– only for conflicts from Afghanistan to Ukraine to bog him down. In Brussels last week, however, newly installed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth renewed the United States’s pledge to refocus on China.

Successive governments have argued that denying Russia a victory in Ukraine was vital to dissuading China from invading the self-governing island. The notion of “Ukraine today, Taiwan tomorrow”, is now all the more alarming.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has held a call with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and said he was pleased with Moscow’s efforts to hold a summit with the U.S. toward ending the war in Ukraine.

Weeks prior to Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the two reaffirmed the “no limits” partnership first mentioned by Beijing in 2021. Nato considers China a “decisive enabler” of the Kremlin’s war effort,

Two top Trump admin. officials declined to say that Russia started the war in Ukraine. Igor Novikov, a former advisor to Ukraine President Zelenskyy, joins José Díaz-Balart to share his perspective as the war in Ukraine enters its fourth year.

China focuses on economy, trade over Ukraine peace role Preparations for negotiations over U.S. tariffs a priority for Xi China avoids risks to maintain ties with Russia for energy China engages more with Europe amid frosty relations BEIJING,

For the last three years, China has repeatedly signalled a willingness to act as a peacemaker in the war in Ukraine. There were rounds of shuttle diplomacy by Beijing's envoy to countries from South Africa to Indonesia.