China keeps West guessing about economic pressure on Russia

Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping (AP)

Chinese leader Xi Jinping is keeping the West guessing about whether Beijing will cooperate with tougher sanctions on Russia as he meets President Vladimir Putin, a year after declaring they had a “no limits” friendship ahead of the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine.

China has avoided violating sanctions but its purchases of Russian oil and gas rose almost 60% in August over a year ago to 11.2 billion dollars (£9.6 billion).