US President Donald Trump said he may discuss a decline in Chinese purchases of Russian oil with Xi Jinping following US sanctions on two major oil companies and expressed disappointment with Vladimir Putin over his conduct of the war in Ukraine.
Trump, speaking to reporters en route to Asia to meet world leaders, including Xi, said he hopes his talks on Thursday with the Chinese president would yield “a complete deal”.
An increasingly acrimonious stand-off between the US and China over trade, tech and raw material restrictions has raised the stakes for Trump’s trip to Asia. Trump and Xi plan to meet during an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Gyeongju, South Korea.
In the build-up, US and Chinese negotiators held trade talks in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday that a US Treasury spokesperson called “very constructive”. Teams headed by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng plan to resume talks Sunday.
Trump said on Saturday that China had cut back on buying Russian oil. On Friday, Chinese state-owned companies including Sinopec cancelled some purchases of Russian seaborne crude after the US blacklisted Rosneft PJSC and Lukoil PJSC.
“I may be discussing it, but you know China’s – you probably saw today – China is cutting back very substantially on the purchase of Russian oil, and India is cutting back completely, and we’ve done sanctions,” Trump said.
