The Chinese Foreign Ministry has announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin will embark on a two-day state visit to China this week. Putin is scheduled to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping during his visit, which commences on Thursday.
The Kremlin has confirmed the trip, stating that Xi extended the invitation to Putin. This will be Putin’s first foreign trip since he began his fifth term as president.
Both countries, which are continent-sized authoritarian states, have increasingly been in disputes with democracies and NATO. They seek to expand their influence in Africa, the Middle East, and South America.
China has supported Russia’s claim that President Vladimir Putin initiated his attack on Ukraine in 2022 due to Western provocations, although no solid evidence has been presented to substantiate this claim.