China and Russia “cannot be moved away” from one another, Chinese leader Xi Jinping told his counterpart Vladimir Putin on Monday, in their first phone call since US President Donald Trump upended American foreign policy with a sweeping pivot toward Moscow as he pushes for peace in Ukraine.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has held a call with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and said he was pleased with Moscow’s efforts to hold a summit with the U.S. toward ending the war in Ukraine

President Donald Trump’s rapprochement with Russia has some experts suggesting he might be trying to do a “reverse Nixon” and isolate Beijing by courting Moscow.