A visitor takes a video of an artwork depicting U.S. President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping at an exhibition, which is called “Yalta 2.0” and opened to make a reference to the 1945 Yalta Conference, at an art gallery in Livadia park in Yalta, Crimea, February 8, 2025. Image @ REUTERS/Alexey Pavlishak
At the G7 summit in Evian-les-Bains, France, where a freshly struck ceasefire agreement with Iran dominated proceedings, U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday singled out two of Washington’s sharpest geopolitical rivals, China and Russia, for public praise, crediting their restraint for helping bring the conflict to a close.
“I want to thank China, President Xi. I was with him, and he stayed neutral, totally neutral, and I appreciate it,” Trump told reporters at a closing press conference. “And I want to thank Vladimir Putin, he was very neutral. They could have made it much more difficult for us.”
Trump described the Iran agreement as achieving “everything we set out to accomplish, everything, and much more,” and said a ceremonial signing would take place within a day or two. The deal, which he branded the “Trump deal,” includes commitments that Iran will never develop a nuclear weapon and that the Iran-blocked Strait of Hormuz will reopen.
The effusive words for Beijing and Moscow stood in sharp contrast to Trump’s sharply critical tone toward traditional U.S. allies. Trump had sharp disagreements with French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni over his failure to consult them before going to war with Iran, and threatened to draw down U.S. troops in all four countries for their lack of support.
The backdrop to Trump’s praise for Xi made it all the more striking. Beijing had publicly condemned the U.S. military campaign against Tehran as a brazen violation of Iranian sovereignty. U.S. intelligence officials assessed that China supplied Iran with goods with potential military uses, and Chinese independent oil refiners emerged as Tehran’s main customers during the conflict, effectively defying American sanctions. Moscow, for its part, warned that the war risked igniting a nuclear arms race across the Middle East.
Yet Trump argued Xi’s restraint was pivotal. “They could have sent in an oil ship with six destroyers alongside of it, on each side. They didn’t do that. President Xi helped me. He tried to help, and I think he probably helped get it solved,” he said, noting that Beijing held back from delivering heavy weaponry or shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles to Iran.
“I just want to thank them because they made it a lot better,” Trump added.
Ahead of the summit, Trump had also held a separate phone call with Putin, with Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov telling reporters afterward that Trump stressed the need to end hostilities in Ukraine and expressed willingness to push European allies and Kyiv toward that goal.
Trump warned, however, that the Iran agreement was not unconditional. “If they don’t honor that, we’ll probably go back to bombing them until they honor it, you know? It’s amazing what bombs can do,” he said.
The embassies of China and Russia in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
By: Andrews Kwesi Yeboah