The Chinese president will hold a series of talks, including dialogues with Vladimir Putin and Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.
Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives in Moscow on Monday to meet with Vladimir Putin as part of a state visit. It is Xi’s first trip abroad since he was re-elected for a third term on March 10.
From the Kremlin it was notified that the two leaders will address “current issues on the development of relations of global association and strategic interaction between Russia and China“, in addition to exchanging opinions on “the deepening of mutual cooperation in the international arena”. The signing of several important bilateral documents.
For his part, the Russian presidential assistant, Yuri Ushakov, explained that the visit of the Chinese president “is called a state visit to underline its importance, but it will be strictly business”, without the “protocol things”. “Since the visit comes immediately after a series of internal events in Beijing – the re-election of the president and many others – it has been agreed that we will limit ourselves to a visit to Moscow,” he detailed.
Ushakov specified that, among other issues, the heads of state will discuss the conflict in Ukraine, military-technical cooperation and the energy issue. In addition, the official pointed out that the parties will sign two joint declarations and more than ten documents in different areas of cooperation.
According to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the purpose of the trip is to deepen bilateral trust and mutual understanding, as well as give a new impetus to the development of relations between both nations. In turn, the spokeswoman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Hua Chunying, stressed what will be a meeting “for friendship and peace”while the Chinese ambassador to Russia, Zhang Hanhui, stressed that “as long as the more turbulent the worldmore important is that the relationships between China and Russia move steadily“.
What do the experts say?
As Xi’s first visit after his re-election, the meeting with Putin has “important semantic significance,” said Yana Leksiutina, a professor at Saint Petersburg State University.
“It is a kind of demonstration of the resistance of Russian-Chinese relations. China shows that it specifically chooses Russia as the place of the first state visit of the re-elected head of state,” Leksiutina said, adding that in this way, Beijing sends to the West “the message” that the ties between the two countries “they are strong, they are not subject to any change or pressure from outside”.
On the other hand, the situation in Ukraine is another key issue for the talks at this meeting. “Xi Jinping will surely have the opportunity to specify the position of the PRC, which was established in February in 12 points of the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s statement,” said Alexei Maslov of Moscow State University.
What are the meeting guidelines?
On the afternoon of the 20th, both leaders will celebrate a face-to-face meeting and they will have dinner together. The leaders will sign two joint statements“a joint statement by the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China on deepening the relationship of comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation, ushering in a new era,” and another on the development plan for key areas of the economic cooperation until 2030.
A meeting of the Chinese president with the russian prime minister, Mikhail Mishustin. Subsequently, Putin and Xi will hold talks in a reduced format and then a larger meeting, will make statements to the press and sign joint documents.
The last time Xi Jinping traveled to Russia on a state visit was in June 2019. Back then, the Chinese leader visited Moscow and also participated in the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. The last meeting of both leaders was held in September 2022 in Uzbekistanwithin the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), when they discussed both the bilateral agenda and the main regional and international issues.
On January 30, it was reported that the Russian leader had invited Xi to visit him in the spring. Later, during a meeting held with the head of Chinese diplomacy, Wang Yi, on February 22, Putin stated that Moscow was waiting for the visit of President Xi Jinping. In this sense, he declared that these personal meetings “will give additional impetus to the development” of relations between the two nations.
After leaving Moscow, the Chinese leader will return to Beijing.
Source: RT
