Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday urged Russia and Mongolia to deepen their energy and financial bonds with his country while fending off “external interference”.
The three countries must further strengthen “solidarity” amid increasingly turbulent international dynamics, Xi said during his first trilateral summit with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and Mongolian President Khurelsukh Ukhnaa in three years.
“China is ready to work with Russia and Mongolia to strengthen political mutual trust … eliminate external interference and jointly promote high-quality development of trilateral cooperation,” Xi said at the summit in Beijing, according to state news agency Xinhua.
China and Russia have boosted economic and security ties as both face growing geopolitical pressure from the West. But Mongolia – a de facto buffer zone between the two nuclear giants during the Cold War – has seemingly placed greater emphasis on its “third neighbour” foreign policy.
By that approach, the landlocked country has worked to develop partnerships with the United States, Japan, South Korea and the European Union to diversify its diplomacy, trade and security relations beyond Beijing and Moscow.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (centre) hosts his Russian and Mongolian counterparts during a trilateral meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Tuesday. Photo: Xinhua
Chinese President Xi Jinping (centre) hosts his Russian and Mongolian counterparts during a trilateral meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Tuesday. Photo: Xinhua
As the US-China strategic rivalry continues to intensify over trade and technology, with rare earths – critical to semiconductor and clean energy sectors – now a key bargaining chip, Mongolia’s vast mineral wealth has elevated its strategic significance in the global political landscape.
Mongolia’s 2023 memorandum of understanding on critical minerals collaboration with the US made this clear.
During a phone call in May, Mongolian Foreign Minister Battsetseg Batmunkh and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio “expressed their satisfaction with the vitality of Mongolia-US relations and cooperation”, according to Ulaanbaatar.
In Beijing on Tuesday, Xi called for prioritising “hard connectivity” between the three countries by “advancing cross-border infrastructure and energy projects”, according to Xinhua.
He also urged the three countries to “expand local currency settlements” and align their development strategies amid the growing global resistance to the dominance of the US dollar and China’s push for greater international use of the renminbi.
Putin sought to emphasise the strong ties among the three nations. Russia “sincerely strives for the comprehensive development of mutually beneficial, equal and multifaceted relations” with both China and Mongolia, he said, adding: “Our three countries have much in common.”
“We share an interest in developing political, economic and humanitarian ties between our countries. And most importantly, Russia, China and Mongolia are good neighbours.”
Khurelsukh said that Mongolia had “consistently made efforts to deepen bilateral and trilateral relations and cooperation” with China and Russia in “all areas”.
“The Mongolian side attaches particular importance to the implementation of joint projects in areas such as the development of economic corridor infrastructure, transport, logistics, energy and trade,” he added.
The China–Mongolia–Russia economic corridor is one of the major components of Beijing’s transcontinental Belt and Road Initiative, which has seen slow progress since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
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Ulaanbaatar did not include the Power of Siberia 2 natural gas pipeline connecting Russia and China in its action programme through 2028, which was announced last year, a decision interpreted by many as a shelving of the controversial project.
The pipeline is expected to deliver 50 billion cubic metres (1.77 trillion cubic feet) of natural gas annually from Russia to China, nearly matching the pre-idle flow via Nord Stream 1 between Russia and Europe. But whether it would pass through Mongolia has been discussed for years.
The project could help Moscow continue to sell its vast gas output while also addressing Beijing’s energy import needs.
Despite the omission by Mongolia, the project appears to be on track.
According to Russia’s official Tass agency, “based on the public statement made by the leaders of three countries – Russia, China and Mongolia – a legally binding memorandum” was signed on Tuesday between Russian energy giant Gazprom and the Chinese state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation on the construction of the mega gas pipeline.
The project would transit through Mongolia, the report said, quoting Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller.
Earlier this year, the Mongolian parliament ratified a long-stalled deal with China to build a new cross-border railway, which was also viewed as a sign of Ulaanbaatar’s move to tighten economic ties with Beijing amid US President Donald Trump’s global tariff wars.
Both Putin and Khurelsukh attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit hosted by Xi on Monday in northern China’s Tianjin, where Mongolia’s status was elevated from observer to a “partner” of the grouping.
Their last trilateral gathering was on the sidelines of the September 2022 SCO summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, under a mechanism launched in 2014.
The Russian and Mongolian leaders will also be attending the grand military parade in Tiananmen Square on Wednesday to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.
“It is gratifying to note that the peoples of our three countries are always united in their desire to preserve historical memory,” Khurelsukh said during the three-way meeting.
Japan’s Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako paid a historic week-long visit to Mongolia in July, during which they visited a memorial honouring the thousands of Japanese held as prisoners during World War II.
Xi earlier on Tuesday had a one-on-one meeting with Khurelsukh, where he pledged that China would always be a “reliable and dependable” partner to Mongolia regardless of changes in international circumstances, according to Xinhua.
Khurelsukh told Xi that maintaining a permanent friendship with China was a diplomatic priority for Mongolia.
BY Orange Wang
Based in Beijing, Orange covers a range of topics including China's economy and diplomacy. He previously worked in Hong Kong and had a stint in Washington. Before joining the Post, Orange worked as a Shanghai Correspondent for ET Net, a Hong Kong financial news agency.

Published Date:2025-09-03