Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed this Wednesday that he will visit China in October at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, his first trip to the country since the conflict in Ukraine began in February 2022.
Putin said he was “glad” to accept the invitation made during a meeting in Russia with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Russian state television reported, without giving a specific date for the visit.
The Kremlin has already announced the Russian President’s “intention” to travel to China to participate in the Belt and Road Forum, which brings together world leaders.
Russia, hit by Western sanctions over its incursion into Ukraine, is seeking to strengthen economic, military and energy ties with Beijing.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin will receive Wang Yi and greet him at the “Constantine Palace in St. Petersburg” in the northwest of the country.
After arriving in Russia on Monday, the Chinese diplomat held talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, during which both praised Beijing’s “similar” positions on the United States and the conflict in Ukraine.
Since Xi Jinping’s visit to the Kremlin in March and with Russia’s growing isolation hit by a wave of international sanctions in response to the offensive in Ukraine, Moscow and Beijing have advocated closer economic and military cooperation in a friendship officially described as “borderless.”
China and Russia, which share a common desire to challenge what they see as United States hegemony, held joint naval maneuvers in the Pacific last August.
Regarding the conflict in Ukraine, China is trying to position itself as a neutral country, despite the open support of the Kremlin.