WASHINGTON, May 21. /TASS/. The latest meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping signals the two countries’ desire to strengthen ties, primarily economic ones, US political scientist and analyst John Kavulich, who works as a researcher at the analytical organization Issue Insight, told TASS.

"Russia wants to expand its relationship with China. China wants to expand its relationship with Russia," the expert noted, commenting on the outcomes of Putin’s visit to Beijing. Kavulich stressed that Russia is particularly interested in China as "both a purchaser of resources from Russia and as a provider of products and services required to sustain the economy of Russia."

In the expert’s view, China, in turn, needs Russia "as a provider of resources - primarily oil, and as an interlocutor to assist with ending the Israel-United States-Iran war."

Kavulich stressed that China also has interest in that because it "imports oil from Iran and other countries.".