Xi and Putin: The marriage of convenience that is reshaping the world order

But today, as the world once again divides into geopolitical camps, there is a rare sense of shared purpose. “I think the miscalculation that is made, particularly in Europe, is that Russia is only a junior partner and China is taking all the advantage by getting cheap commodities, oil and whatnot, and access to the Russian market. But Russia is also important to China,” says Sari Arho Havrén, an associate fellow and specialist in China’s foreign relations at Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), a defence and security think tank. “Together they want to change the global order… and particularly China is obsessed with displacing the US – it needs Russia to do that. Russia is a very useful partner for China in achieving its own goals.”