As US President Donald Trump holds talks with Ukraine’s President, China’s leaders see something very different: Opportunity. CNN’s Will Ripley reports.

Trump suggests Kyiv needs to ‘fight back’ against Putin in fiery tirade - Trump’s statement follows the Russian bombing of a US electronics manufacturer in Ukraine, which Zelensky damned as ‘very tell

Most significantly, China’s influence has recently shifted from passive supply to active manipulation of the technological balance on the battlefield—the hallmark of a state engaged in proxy warfare. In May 2025, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated bluntly, “Chinese Mavic [drones] are open for Russians but are closed for Ukrainians.”

The Alaska summit between President Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, was more than a high-stakes encounter over the Ukraine war. It signaled America’s recognition that its own missteps have helped drive Russia closer to China,

The China-Russia alliance has grown since 2019 with joint military exercises, weapons technology sharing and coordinated strategy that could potentially create a two-front crisis risk for America.

For Europe, China’s close ties with Russia and perceived support for its war effort have overshadowed ties between China and Europe for more than three years. In Beijing, European Council President António Costa told his counterparts that China should “use its influence on Russia to respect the United Nations Charter and to bring an end of its war of aggression against Ukraine.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s high-stakes diplomacy to resolve the war in Ukraine is unlikely to jolt oil and gas markets, no matter the outcome.

China's regime, which has a top-down concept of the world, likes the idea of big countries, by themselves, settling the world's problems. "Now, there is a crucial precedent for a future summit between Trump and the Chinese leadership, where China would press for major concessions in East Asia," Burton said.

As the war in Ukraine enters a new phase after the one-year mark since Russia launched its invasion, U.S. officials are starting to weigh in on China’s possibly growing role in the war, with ...

Ukraine does not consider China a possible security guarantor after the war, since such guarantees can only be given by countries that are actually helping, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters on August 20.