Russia's exit from Syria will disrupt supplies to its forces in Africa. But as Moscow's fortunes in the resource-rich Continent wane, Beijing's are rising

Russian exports of coal and steel to China dropped in 2024 amid shifting global trade dynamics and Moscow’s increasing isolation from Western markets. China has become a key economic partner for Russia since the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine set off a barrage of Western sanctions.

China's largest airline, China Southern Airlines, has suspended flights from Beijing to Moscow at the end of January, a surprise move that comes just ahead of the Chinese New Year. Newsweek reached out to China Southern Airlines and the Russian Foreign Ministry with an emailed request for comment outside of office hours.

The U.S. “will have to out-think” Russia and China to prevent them from using nuclear weapons to resolve a future crisis, the outgoing head of the National Nuclear Security Administration said last week.

Although Aeroflot has reduced Russia-China capacity by 5% compared with pre-pandemic levels, it is currently offering 16 nonstop routes between the countries, compared with seven in 2019. Recent additions include Krasnoyarsk-Harbin, Khabarovskiy-Sanya and Moscow Sheremetyevo-Sanya.

In December, Russia reportedly sold its stakes in certain Kazakh uranium deposits to Chinese-owned companies. This involved Kazakhstan's nuclear resources company, Kazatomprom, and Russia's Rosatom transferring interests to Chinese entities, National Security News reported.

The US President has previously called for tariffs as high as 60% on China, and analysts have expressed mixed feelings about the news.

All three countries are adversaries of the United States, and Russia has used its ties with them to help blunt the impact of Western sanctions and boost its war effort in Ukraine. Presidents Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping met in Beijing on Feb.

But its ability to export arms is now severely hampered and China has filled the vacuum, depriving Moscow of vital revenue. Though China’s share has fallen to 19%, it now exceeds Russia’s ...

The two leaders have developed strong personal ties that helped boost relations between Moscow and Beijing, growing even closer after Putin sent troops into Ukraine in 2022.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had a call Tuesday with Chinese President Xi Jinping, emphasizing the two countries’ close ties, a day after Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th U.S. president.