President Vladimir Putin Plans Trip to China in October
- Alexei Druzhinin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP
Moscow – President of Russia, Vladimir Putin is planning a trip to China in October soon, the Kremlin said on Tuesday, as Russia aims to shore up ties with one of its closest allies.
"It's known that we have received an invitation and that we intend to go to China when the Belt and Road Forum is held in October," Yuri Ushakow, an aide to the President on International affairs, said in comments carried by Russian news agencies.
Chinese President Xi Jinping made a state visit to Moscow in March and declared relations between the two countries were entering a new era.
Presiden Rusia Vladimir Putin dan Presiden China Xi JInping.
- Business Insider
China and Russia are strategic allies, with both sides frequently touting their "no limits" partnership and cooperation in the economic and military spheres.
Their ties became even closer after Russia began its military campaign in Ukraine in February last year and the Western economic sanctions that ensued.
Beijing has pointedly declined to condemn Russia's offensive against its neighbor.
Putin last visited China in 2022, attending the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Beijing. He also attended the first two Belt and Road Forums held in China in 2017 and 2019.
As information, China is known to refuse to blame Moscow for the war in Ukraine and condemn Western sanctions against Russia, even as it benefits from discounts on oil and gas that Russia no longer sells to Europe.
Moreover, China has also observed Russia increasingly using the yuan as a reserve currency, as an option to the US dollar.
President Xi Jinping also visited Moscow in March. His visit was to confirm a series of economic and other agreements with his friend Putin.
At the same time, China presented a paper in Moscow calling for de-escalation and a ceasefire in Ukraine, but Kyiv and its Western allies rejected the plan, arguing that it would lock in Russian territorial gains.
