AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTYou have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.With the upheaval in the Persian Gulf disrupting oil and gas supplies, Russia is looking to deepen its energy ties to China.Listen · 8:49 min A photo released by Russian state media shows Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing, last year.Credit...Alexander Kazakov/Sputnik, via ReutersMay 19, 2026, 11:09 a.m. ETPresident Vladimir V. Putin of Russia arrives in Beijing on Tuesday for a state visit in a position of relative weakness.His army is struggling to move in Ukraine. His seat of power, Moscow, has been increasingly vulnerable to Ukrainian drones. Russia’s economy is under severe strain. More Russians are growing tired of what increasingly looks like a fruitless and endless war.Even in better times for Moscow, its relationship with Beijing has been defined by economic imbalance. “China has massive leverage and can dictate exactly what it wants from this menu of bilateral cooperation,” said Aleksandr Gabuev, the director of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center in Berlin.Still, Russia is not content being relegated to junior partner to China. Its nuclear arsenal, far larger than Beijing’s, could make it an important ally in any superpower conflict, including over Taiwan. The invasion of Ukraine has positioned Moscow as a leader of an emerging non-Western world order supported by Beijing.ImageRussian cities are growing more vulnerable to Ukrainian drone attacks. A residential building was struck in Zelenograd, Russia on Sunday.Credit...Nanna Heitmann for The New York TimesAnd then there is the opening provided by the war against Iran waged by the United States and Israel.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENT