As Chinese leader Xi Jinping stepped back out onto the world stage at the G20 summit in Bali, it was another litmus test for his support for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Beijing has continued to send signals that it is becoming increasingly uncomfortable with Russia’s war in Ukraine and ongoing nuclear saber-rattling. Western leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, have also called for China to play a larger mediating role.

How should these developments be interpreted? How close are Xi and Putin in reality? Is this a sign of a new direction for Chinese diplomacy or just the latest phase of its ongoing balancing act? Raffaello Pantucci, senior fellow at London’s Royal United Services Institute and at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, joins host Reid Standish to discuss.