Prime Minister Li Keqiang on Sunday arrived in Moscow for talks with President Vladimir Putin as Russia is struggling with its most pronounced isolation since the end of the cold war.
“It is a major event in the bilateral relations,” vice-minister Cheng Guoping said ahead of Li’s visit.
He said both sides would sign a joint communique and about 50 agreements. “We are confident it will be a success,” he said.
Deputy foreign minister Igor Morgulov in Moscow said the two countries would sign a host of deals including on nuclear energy, natural gas, financing and banking.
“I am convinced that the Chinese Prime Minister’s visit will allow us to make substantial progress in key areas of practical cooperation,” he said in comments released by the foreign ministry on Sunday.
Li’s first visit to Russia as premier comes at a sensitive time as the Kremlin is grappling with the consequences of its support for separatists in Ukraine during a six-month conflict in the east of the ex-Soviet country.