China’s foreign ministry says Russian President Vladimir Putin will make an official visit to China later this week.
The ministry says Putin will arrive in Beijing Thursday for a two-day visit at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping. The trip will be Putin’s first foreign visit since his reelection in March for a fifth term in office, and his second visit to China in six months.
He traveled to Beijing in October to attend a forum on President Xi’s “Belt and Road” initiative, which was launched in 2013 to boost trade and investment by improving China’s transport links with the rest of the world.
Just weeks before Russian troops invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Xi and Putin signed a pledge declaring their “no-limits” bilateral partnership. Beijing has since become Moscow’s most reliable economic and diplomatic partner as Western nations have imposed strict economic sanctions in response to the invasion.
Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse.
