Russian President Vladimir Putin will travel to China on May 19 for a two-day visit, just days after US President Donald Trump concluded his trip to Beijing, the Kremlin announced on Saturday.
During the visit, Putin is expected to hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping on ways to “further strengthen the comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation” between Moscow and Beijing, news agency AFP reported, citing a Kremlin statement.
The two leaders will also “exchange views on key international and regional issues” and sign a joint declaration following their discussions, the statement added.
As part of his visit, Putin is also scheduled to meet Chinese Premier Li Qiang to discuss economic and trade cooperation.
The announcement comes shortly after Trump wrapped up the first visit to China by a US president in nearly a decade. Despite the grand reception accorded to him in Beijing, several trade and geopolitical tensions, including the Ukraine-Russia conflict, remained unresolved.
Although Trump and Xi discussed the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, as well as the US leader’s stalled confrontation with Iran, no major breakthrough appeared to emerge from the talks before Trump departed China on Friday.
Ukraine war, China-Russia ties expected to figure prominently in Putin-Jinping talks
US-brokered negotiations aimed at ending the fighting in Ukraine have reportedly remained stalled since the outbreak of the US-Israeli war with Iran on February 28.
Ahead of Trump’s arrival in China, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had urged the US President to raise the issue of ending the conflict during his meeting with Xi.
Moscow, however, has ruled out a ceasefire or broader peace negotiations unless Ukraine accepts the Kremlin’s demands.
While China has repeatedly called for dialogue to end the conflict, it has refrained from condemning Russia’s military offensive in Ukraine, launched in February 2022, and continues to present itself as a neutral party.
Beijing has also denied supplying weapons or military components to Moscow, instead accusing Western nations of prolonging the conflict by continuing to arm Ukraine.
China, the world’s largest buyer of Russian fossil fuels, has emerged as Moscow’s key economic partner, particularly after Western sanctions targeted Russian oil and gas exports following the Ukraine conflict.
Lavrov says Russia-China ties stronger than ‘traditional political and military alliances’
Trump claimed on Friday that he had secured “fantastic” trade deals during his China visit, including commitments from Beijing to purchase 200 Boeing aircraft as well as American oil and soybeans.
However, details regarding these agreements remained limited, and China did not formally announce any trade deal.
Unlike Trump, who described Xi as a “great leader” and a “friend”, Beijing’s response to the summit remained relatively restrained.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov welcomed the China-US summit on Friday but stressed that Moscow shared closer ties with Beijing.
“If the agreements reached or to be reached by Beijing and Washington are in the interests of our Chinese friends, we can only be delighted,” Lavrov said during a press conference in New Delhi.
However, he maintained that Russia was “bound to China by ties… that are deeper and stronger than traditional political and military alliances”.
(With AFP inputs)
Putin to visit China next week, days after Trump’s Beijing trip
