In November 2012, Xi Jinping succeeded Hu Jintao as the CCP General Secretary and became the top leader of China. Putin and Xi quickly established a close relationship; the pair met more than 40 times from 2013 to 2025.
Roldugin introduced both of Putin's daughters, Katya and Masha, to playing the piano and the violin. He has been friends with Putin since the late 1970s. In March 2016 The Guardian described Roldugin as "Putin's best friend". It was Roldugin who introduced Putin to Lyudmila, his future wife.
The Republic of Belarus is the closest ally of the Russian Federation.
Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus, with Vladimir Putin in 2002. Despite a number of economic disputes in the mid-2000s, Belarus has remained one of Russia's closest allies.
Peter Conradi, in GQ magazine, described this relationship as a "bromance". Between 2013 and 2015, Trump stated "I do have a relationship with" Putin, "I met him once", and "I spoke indirectly and directly with President Putin, who could not have been nicer." From 2016, during his election campaign, his stance changed.
Trump, his children, and his partners have repeatedly visited Russia, connecting with real estate developers and Russian government officials to explore joint venture opportunities. Trump was never able to successfully conclude any real estate deals in Russia.
Background. Prior to the summit, Biden and Putin had met once, in Moscow in March 2011, when Biden was vice president and Putin was prime minister. After an official group meeting Biden characterized in his memoir as "argumentative", he and Putin met privately, with Biden saying "Mr.
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“NATO is 50% of the world's military might, NATO is the strongest military alliance in the world, and the purpose of standing together with one for all and all for one, our Article 5 about collective defense, is to prevent an attack,” NATO Secretary General said.
At present, Russia has no diplomatic relations with Ukraine (Since 2022) due to the Russo-Ukrainian war. Other than Ukraine, Russia also has no diplomatic relations with Georgia (Since 2008), Bhutan, the Federated States of Micronesia (Since 2022) or Solomon Islands.
In the recent Russian polls, the United States and its allies have consistently topped the list of Russia's greatest enemies.
China and Russia have enjoyed close relations militarily, economically, and politically, while supporting each other on various global issues. Commentators have debated whether the bilateral strategic partnership constitutes an alliance.
China is the most popular destination among Russian tourists, with 36% of requests.In 2024, a total of 1.897 million Russians visited this country, including transit passengers, twice as many as the year before last.
Russia's closest allies and friends include China, its biggest economic partner, Belarus, its most loyal military and political ally in the post-Soviet space, and increasingly Iran, North Korea, and India, with strong military, energy, and anti-Western cooperation. Public opinion in Russia also consistently ranks these nations highly as friends, alongside others like Kazakhstan.
Russian President Vladimir Putin primarily drives the Aurus Senat, a custom-built, heavily armored luxury limousine developed by Russia's NAMI institute as part of the Kortezh project. This formidable vehicle, often compared to a Russian Rolls-Royce, serves as his official presidential car, replacing a Mercedes-Benz S 600 Guard Pullman, and features extensive protection against bullets, blasts, and chemical attacks, functioning as a mobile fortress with advanced life-saving tech.
Russia has diplomatic relations with the political wing of Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist organization which rules the Gaza Strip. Russia has not designated Hamas as a terrorist organization, though it has condemned Hamas attacks as "terrorism" and has taken a hard line against Islamist terrorism.
United States
The United States has the world's most powerful military in 2025, according to Global Firepower. The US received a PowerIndex score of 0.0744, the closest to 0 of all the countries in the ranking.
The internationally recognized great powers today are China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, with India being the most likely country to become a great power in the near future.
The United States is generally considered more powerful overall due to its vastly larger defense budget, superior military technology, and broader global reach, but Russia boasts significant strengths, particularly in nuclear warheads, ground forces (tanks), and a high percentage of GDP dedicated to defense, with some rankings placing it second militarily, though recent conflicts challenge its battlefield perception.
By 2023, the most negative perception of Russia was in Ukraine (net negative 79%), followed by Portugal with 69%, Japan with 68%, and Poland with 68%, according to the 2023 Democracy Perception Index.
The United States has formal diplomatic relations with most nations. This includes all United Nations members and observer states other than Bhutan, Iran and North Korea, and the UN observer Territory of Palestine.
Volodymyr Zelensky identifies as Jewish, but is not outwardly religious, describing himself as secular; he comes from a Russian-speaking Jewish family in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine, and has spoken of his family's experiences during the Holocaust, with relatives moving to Israel, but he doesn't often display overt religious adherence.
He confirmed that he had withheld aid from Ukraine, while offering contradicting reasons for doing so. Trump first claimed it was withheld because of corruption in Ukraine, but later said it was because other nations, including those in Europe, were not contributing enough aid to Ukraine.