By Simone McCarthy, Nectar Gan, Darya Tarasova, CNN

Tianjin, China (CNN) — Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed a relationship with Beijing at an “unprecedentedly high level” on Tuesday, as the two countries reportedly inked a long-stalled agreement to build a massive new pipeline to send natural gas to China via Mongolia.

Putin and Xi Jinping spent hours together on Tuesday, meeting with Mongolia’s president, sitting down for their own formal talks, and sipping tea at the Chinese leader’s official residence – in the latest show of solidarity between the two strongmen seeking to present a new world order.

On Tuesday afternoon, Russia’s state-owned energy company Gazprom announced that a legally binding agreement had been signed for the construction the massive Power of Siberia-2 gas pipeline, which Moscow has been trying to push off the drawing board for years.

The deal is a major win for Putin, who has increasingly turned to China to replace Europe as its major gas buyer. It’s also a collective show of defiance against US President Donald Trump, who is pushing countries to cut Russian energy imports as part of his attempt to end the war in Ukraine.

The new pipeline will supply 50 billion cubic meters of gas annually from western Russia to northern China. Analysts have previously said it could offset nearly half of the gas exports to Europe that Russia has lost since the Ukraine war began.

The deal includes a 30 year supply agreement and the price of supplies will be lower than Europe is charged, Gazprom CEO Aleksey Miller said, Russia’s TASS news agency reported.

“It will be the largest, most extensive, and most capital-intensive gas project in the world,” Miller was quoted as saying by TASS.

China, though, has not yet confirmed the agreement.

Beijing has long been seen as cautious about the mega-project, given its push for renewable energy transition and longstanding energy security concerns about being too reliant on a single supplier.

Chinese state media reports on the meeting of the leaders Russia, China and Mongolia make no mention of the pipeline. In subsequent talks between Xi and Putin, the Chinese leader said their countries should “use major projects to drive cooperation.”

Asked about the deal at a regular news conference Tuesday, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said China and Russia have “consistently conducted practical cooperation in various fields, including energy,” and asked reporters to “contact the relevant Chinese authorities for details.”

‘Old friend’

Putin and Xi sat down on Tuesday for their first formal talks since the Russian leader arrived in China on Sunday.

The meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing was the latest show of solidarity between the two strongmen as Putin shrugs off Western pressure to end its war on Ukraine, and Xi casts his country as a new leader of world governance, at a time when Trump’s foreign policy is upending the globe.

Harking back to Soviet ties with China during the World War II, Putin hailed “the memory of the brotherhood in arms, trust, mutual support, and firmness in defending common interests” as the foundation of their countries’ strategic alignment “in the new era.”

“We were always together then, and we remain together now,” Putin told Xi at the start of their bilateral sit-down.

China-Russia relations have “withstood the test of shifting international circumstances,” Xi said, calling Putin an “old friend.”

“China is willing to work together with Russia to support each other’s development and revitalization, firmly uphold international fairness and justice, and build a just and reasonable global governance system,” Xi said.

After their formal meeting, Xi invited Putin to his residence in Zhongnanhai, the Communist Party’s walled leadership compound in central Beijing, to continue discussions, according to Russian state media. China’s state broadcaster said Xi and Putin had tea with a small group of aides around noon.

The close rapport between Xi and Putin was also on show throughout a two-day security summit in the Chinese port city of Tianjin that concluded Monday. During a banquet dinner Sunday evening, Xi warmly greeted Putin and was seen gesturing expressively in conversation with the Russian leader.

Putin previously said that he discussed his recent negotiations in Alaska with Trump with Xi during summit activities Sunday. Putin met Trump last month in Alaska as the US pushes for Russia to end its war in Ukraine.

The Russian president’s visit to China is also expected to bring him shoulder-to-shoulder with North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un. Both top a guest list of foreign dignitaries joining Xi at a massive military parade in the Chinese capital Wednesday.

The visit is the Russian leaders’ longest to a single country since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, according to a Kremlin record of his overseas visits.

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