Vladimir Putin’s attendance at the Winter Olympics may be Xi Jinping’s first in-person meeting in 2 years

The Russian president could become the first world leader to meet his Chinese counterpart in person for around 2 years

Xi has remained in China since Covid-19 was declared a global pandemic, missing major events such as the G20 summit and UN climate talks

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Xi and Putin pictured in Moscow in 2019. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 4:31pm, 19 Dec 2021Updated: 5:02pm, 19 Dec 2021

Vladimir Putin is likely to become the first world leader to meet Xi Jinping in person for almost two years after the Russian president confirmed he would attend the Winter Olympics in Beijing in February.

The two held a video call on Wednesday, in which the Chinese leader said he was “looking forward” to meeting Putin at the Games, and afterwards vice-minister for foreign affairs Le Yucheng confirmed it would be a “face-to-face” meeting.

It would make Putin the first foreign leader Xi has received in person since he did so with Khaltmaagiin Battulga, then the Mongolian president, in February 2020 – a month before the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 a global pandemic.

Since that time, Xi has not set foot outside the country or received any visiting foreigner in person. The Chinese and Russian leaders were the only two government leaders not to attend the Group of 20 summit in Rome in October.

He also missed the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, prompting US President Joe Biden to observe “China is absent”.

Observers said the meeting with the Russian leader might offer a chance for China to gradually ease its restrictions on in-person diplomacy.