©picture alliance / Anadolu | Kremlin Press Service / Handout
Vladimir Putin's visit to Chinese President Xi Jinping was closely followed by the press. The Russian president was welcomed with numerous honors and ceremonies. Honorary salutes, marching soldiers and waving children. The Chinese head of state pulled out all the stops for Putin that occurred just after Trump's visit. At least it seemed that way anyway. The Chinese president did not seem intimidated by his Russian counterpart. After all, after a lot of ceremonial formalities and meetings about possible collaborations, Xi Jinping sent his Russian counterpart home empty-handed.
Putin returned from China without an agreement on a new gas pipeline, causing state-owned Gazprom to post substantial losses. All this while the Russian economy is already struggling with skyrocketing inflation and a banking crisis.
After all, Putin's main goal during his visit to China was to conclude a deal on the Power of Siberia 2 pipeline. The pipeline could pump masses of gas into China and is necessary to generate revenue to help Putin's economy recover and fill his war coffer. However, the two heads of state failed to reach an agreement. Putin got an empty box with some vague agreements, but no gas deal which he so desperately needs. And the Russian economy did not react positively to missing out on a lucrative gas deal. Even before Vladimir Putin had landed in Moscow, shares of energy giant Gazprom had crashed by 3.5 percent. In one day, the state-owned company lost $1.75 billion in value. Other listed companies in the oil and construction sectors followed suit.
©picture alliance / Anadolu | Kremlin Press Service / Handout