Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit Moscow “sometime in the coming months” for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Wall Street Journal reports this.
The meeting between the two leaders is said to be part of an effort to initiate peace talks over Ukraine. However, preparations for the summit are said to be early, and it is still unclear when exactly the meeting will occur.
China’s top diplomat Wang Yi is visiting Russia to “further develop” the relationship between the two superpowers. According to the Russian news agency Ria Novosti, Wang said that “ties between the two countries can withstand the changing international situation”.
Shortly after China’s top diplomat Wang Yi met President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Wang’s trip showed that Russia and China agree on many global issues. “We welcome China’s willingness to play a positive role in solving the Ukrainian crisis,” Zakharova said at a briefing.
Wang met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov earlier in the day. He acclaimed the cooperation between the two countries. “Despite the impulsiveness of the international situation, China and Russia maintain their strategic resolve at all times,” it said. Wang hoped for further exchanges and “new agreements”. Lavrov stated that Russian-Chinese relations are developing “imperviously and dynamically”.
Chinese President Xi Jinping should also visit Moscow in the coming months, but it is unclear when exactly that will be. Russia said on Wednesday that it is “welcomed to see China play a more active role in efforts to resolve the conflict in Ukraine.”