Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a video call hours after President Donald Trump re-entered the White House and pledged to "deepen" their partnership.

Chinese President Xi Jinping reaffirmed ties with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, as the two face a more geopolitically assertive US government led by Donald Trump, who criticised the Kremlin's war against Ukraine on the first day of his second term as president.

From decorations to executive orders, the 47th president has taken an aggressive posture in attempting to remake government.

Chinese President Xi Jinping held a meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin via a video link on Tuesday, state broadcaster CCTV reported. The talks came hours after US President Donald Trump returned to the White House and said he would meet Putin “very soon”.

As president-elect, Donald Trump said on more than one occasion that he could end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours of taking office. More than a day into his presidency, the war rages on. But “ending wars” does still appear to be a top priority for the new administration.

President Donald Trump is threatening to impose stiff taxes, tariffs and sanctions on Russia if an agreement isn’t reached to end the war in Ukraine.

US president offers Putin chance to negotiate peace as Volodymyr Zelensky demands American troops join Western peacekeeping force

It would appear Russian President Vladimir Putin sees Donald Trump‘s reinstatement to the White House as a new era of reduced hostility between the two nations, as he congratulated the new president and emphasized the need to prevent a Third World War.

Trump promised during his campaign that upon his return to the White House, he would swiftly end Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

World leaders congratulated President Donald Trump on his inauguration Monday, with many urging stronger alliances or continued cooperation between their countries and the United States, in carefully crafted social media posts and statements.

The presidents sought to capture some of the media spotlight that was focused on the flurry of executive orders signed by Trump. Amid all the noise in Washington following the return of the Republican bulldozer to the White House,