Putin expected to tout China’s ‘premier importance’ in Russian foreign policy and trade, as Beijing seeks ‘delicate balance’

Name: Russia-China relations to grow stronger, Putin says, after clinching landslide election win
Uploaded: 2024-05-15T11:36:59.000Z
Duration: 3 min 3 s
Description: Russia-China relations to grow stronger, Putin says, after clinching landslide election win

In interview with Xinhua, Russian leader commends Beijing’s peace efforts and its ‘unprecedented level of strategic partnership’ with Moscow

Putin’s visit on Thursday will be more significant for Russia than China as Ukraine war ratchets up tensions with West, analyst says

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Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with members of the new government in Moscow on Tuesday. Photo: Reuters

Cyril Ip

Published: 7:36pm, 15 May 2024

Analysts expected Ukraine and the Brics summit to be among the top issues on the table during Vladimir Putin’s meetings in Beijing, as the Russian president again commended China’s peace efforts in the warring region ahead of his arrival.

Putin’s two-day stopover this week – just seven months since his last visit – will include an agenda that stretches from the war in Ukraine to anticipation from the Global South bloc for an annual summit in October, which could see new joiners announced.

The topics were teased in a written interview with Chinese state news agency Xinhua, where Putin reaffirmed the “unprecedented level of strategic partnership” between the two countries despite a “difficult global situation”.

Putin’s foreign policy adviser, Yuri Ushakov, told Russian media that Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping will sign a declaration to step up the strategic partnership and ministers from both sides will sign 11 inter-governmental documents.

The visit will include a one-on-one talk, a walk through a park, and tea and dinner together, he added.

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Russia-China relations to grow stronger, Putin says, after clinching landslide election win

Putin will also visit Harbin, capital of China’s northernmost Heilongjiang province, which neighbours Russia, and speak with students at the Harbin Institute of Technology, according to Wednesday’s press conference at the Kremlin.