Russian President Vladimir Putin smiled and waved enthusiastically to his Chinese counterpart during virtual talks on Tuesday.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping vowed to take his country’s ties with Russia to a new level this year in a video conference with counterpart Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, hours after the inauguration of US President Donald Trump.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has had a call with Chinese President Xi Jinping, emphasizing the two countries’ close ties, a day after Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th U.S. president.

Chinese President Xi Jinping reaffirmed ties with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, as the two face a more geopolitically assertive US government led by Donald Trump, who criticised the Kremlin's war against Ukraine on the first day of his second term as president.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin had a video call hours after Donald Trump was sworn in on Monday, pledging to bring bilateral ties to "greater heights", according to state media on both sides.

Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping pledged to take China-Russian relations to a “higher level”, hours after Donald Trump took office. The pair spoke over the phone on Monday and discussed future relations with the United States, the war in Ukraine and Taiwan.

China's leader, Xi Jinping, video-called Russian dictator Vladimir Putin to discuss cooperation between Russia and China, the Russian news agency "RIA Novosti" reports. During the conversation, Putin and Xi discussed the development of the Russian-Chinese partnership and strategic interaction.

Following Trump's inauguration, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin held a virtual meeting to strengthen bilateral relations between China and Russia.

China's President Xi Jinping spoke with Russia's Vladimir Putin over video call on Tuesday, Chinese national broadcaster CCTV said.

In the 1.5-hour video call, the leaders discussed the need to “cope with the uncertainty of the external environment”.

As Congress reconvenes and a second Trump administration begins, it is more important than ever to remember that preventing corruption from seeping into our country requires vigilance and a willingness to adapt.