Russia is having its best-ever relationship with China: RDIF CEO

Tomohiro Ohsumi | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund at the APEC CEO forum in Beijing, China, on Nov. 10, 2014.

Over the past year, both Russia and China have been subjects of reproach by President Donald Trump for various reasons, including not doing enough to deal with rogue state North Korea as it seeks to build up a nuclear arsenal.

Trump, speaking in Beijing on his tour of Asia, again bemoaned the burgeoning U.S.-China trade deficit on Thursday, saying it arose from the Asian giant’s unfair trade practices. He said that the U.S. should look to address “access, forced technology transfer and the theft of intellectual property.”

Trump quickly added, however, that he did not blame Beijing for “taking advantage” of the U.S. He also described his relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping as being “excellent.”

The Russian administration said Thursday that Trump and Putin are likely to meet on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Corporation leaders’ meeting, an economic forum which opens in Danang, Vietnam on Friday.

But the White House said Friday that the meeting will not take place due to scheduling conflicts, Reuters reported. Later in the morning, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Moscow had been receiving contradictory signals over whether such a meeting would take place.