Observers doubt the new US president will buy the world's largest island but his interest underlines its strategic importance President Donald Trump's claim that US ownership and control of Greenland is "an absolute necessity" has underlined the strategic importance of the world's largest island in terms of American missile defences and anti-submarine operations.

President Xi Jinping told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Tuesday that China hoped to take ties with Moscow to "new heights" this year, Chinese state media reported, hours after Donald Trump was sworn in as US President.

The U.S. “will have to out-think” Russia and China to prevent them from using nuclear weapons to resolve a future crisis, the outgoing head of the National Nuclear Security Administration said last week.

Having exchanged greetings on New Year's Eve, the two leaders had a video call on Tuesday in which they exchanged Chinese New Year greetings and reiterated their joint resolve to promote practical cooperation to advance the high-quality development and modernization of the two countries.

In December, Russia reportedly sold its stakes in certain Kazakh uranium deposits to Chinese-owned companies. This involved Kazakhstan's nuclear resources company, Kazatomprom, and Russia's Rosatom transferring interests to Chinese entities, National Security News reported.

"This time it's different" is a well-worn cliché that seems to be getting another whirl with the latest U.S. sanctions against Russia's crude oil exports.

Putin and Xi praised strong bilateral ties, highlighting shared interests and global stability, as Trump began his term as the 47th US president.View on euronews

The Kremlin said the pair discussed their prospective US government contacts during a video call that lasted more than one-and-a-half hours.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping praised their growing partnership during a video call on Tuesday, hours after Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 47th president of the United States.

Chinese President Xi Jinping declared readiness to lead China-Russian relations to "a new height" together with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin's press service reported on Jan. 21 after a video call between the two leaders.

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.