Xi speaks with Putin and then Trump; Us convenes critical minerals meeting; H200 sales in limbo; Document No.1 explained

Xi Jinping had a busy Wednesday, holding a video call with Russian President Putin, a phone call with US President Trump, and a meeting with Le Hoai Trung, Vietnam’s foreign minister and a special envoy of Vietnam’s General Secretary To Lam.

Today’s top items:

1. Xi-Putin video call - Xi and Putin had a video chat on Wednesday. Neither side’s readout mentioned Ukraine or the growing risk of war over Iran, but they undoubtedly discussed those issues when they “exchanged in-depth views on international and regional hotspot issues of mutual concern.” Japan and Taiwan were also not mentioned.

The Xinhua readout quotes Xi as saying:

over the past year, the two leaders met twice, guiding China-Russia relations into a new stage of development. The two countries solemnly commemorated the 80th anniversary of the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War, demonstrating their firm determination to defend the outcomes of World War II and international fairness and justice. Bilateral economic and trade exchanges maintained a steady momentum. The “China-Russia Year of Culture” concluded successfully, pushing cultural and people-to-people exchanges and cooperation to a new level, with closer personnel exchanges. The two sides successively and successfully hosted the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Tianjin Summit and the Prime Ministers’ Meeting in Moscow, strengthened multilateral coordination, and continued to commit to building a more just and reasonable global governance system…

Both sides should seize historical opportunities, maintain close high-level exchanges, strengthen practical cooperation in various fields, and ensure the continued development of China-Russia relations along the right track with deeper strategic coordination and a more active sense of responsibility as major countries…

since the beginning of the year, the international situation has become increasingly turbulent. As responsible major countries and permanent members of the UN Security Council, China and Russia have an obligation to promote the international community’s adherence to fairness and justice, firmly defend the outcomes of World War II, resolutely uphold the international system with the United Nations at its core and the basic norms of international law, and work together to maintain global strategic stability.

The Russian side said that Putin accepted Xi’s invitation to visit China in the first half of this year.

2. Xi-Trump phone call - Xi also held a call with President Trump. The Xinhua readout cites Xi as telling Trump that:

In the new year, I am willing to continue working with you to guide the ship